Whitbread exec cashes in on rising share price

Patrick Dempsey, the Managing Director of Whitbread's Hotels & Restaurants business, on Friday sold 3,500 shares in the FTSE 100-listed company. Dempsey, together with his wife Allison, sold the shares at 3,861p each for a total trade value of £135,135. Their stake in the group now stands at 35,326 shares. The couple were able to make the most of a strong gain in the company's share price over the past year, which has seen it rise from around 2,400p. Back in October the group said its interim earnings rose ahead of expectations as its Premier Inns hotels and Costa coffee shops continued to grab market share.Despite strong competition in the hotel market, with increasingly strong performance from rivals Travelodge and Accor/Ibis, Premier Inn opened 12 new hotels and contributed a 12.2% increase in total sales. This, along with 152 new coffee shops and total system sales growth of 19.5% for Costa, helped lift group revenues 12.4% to £1.15bn in the six months to August 29th. Top Director SellsOxford Instruments (OXIG) Director name: Mr David (Jonathan) FlintAmount sold: 52,273 @ 1,723.80p Value: £901,082Oxford Instruments (OXIG) Director name: Mr Kevin BoydAmount sold: 35,631 @ 1,723.80p Value: £614,207Oxford Instruments (OXIG) Director name: Mr David (Jonathan) FlintAmount sold: 14,592 @ 1,723.80p Value: £251,537Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Mr Patrick DempseyAmount sold: 3,500 @ 3,861.00p Value: £135,135NR Oxford Instruments Whitbread