Tesco non-exec ups stake after cautious statement

Tesco Non-Executive Director Mark Armour has added 81,525 pounds-worth of shares to his stake in the supermarket chain. Armour, who is the former Chief Financial Officer of Reed Elsevier, bought 25,000 shares at 326.10p each on Monday. He joined Tesco in early September last year. The purchase came just a week after the company reported further weakness in the UK grocery market contributed to a decline in its UK like-for-like (LFL) sales performance. The figure slipped 2% during the festive period in what has proved to be a challenging time for all the large UK grocers. The group was expected to report falling LFL sales of between 1% and 2%. Looking forward, the company said that it still expected to report full year (FY) profits within the range of current market expectations, which it saw as being in between £3.16bn to £3.42bn. Top Director BuysTesco (TSCO) Director name: Mr Mark ArmourAmount purchased: 25,000 @ 326.10p Value: £81,525ITE Group (ITE) Director name: Mr Stephen PuckettAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 306.07p Value: £30,607Majedie Investments (MAJE) Director name: Mr Paul GaddAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 198.00p Value: £19,800NR