XP Power Chairman keeps the faith

James Peters, the Deputy Chairman of XP Power, which makes power control components for the electronics industry, underlined his support of the company with the purchase of 11,000 shares on the same day the company posted declining half year revenue and profits. Peters handed over 1,010.50p per share for a total of £0.11m. He now owns 2.2m shares, equal to 11.38% of the issued share capital.Profit before tax for the year came in at £9.6m (2011: £11.9m) on revenues of £46.5m (2011: £51.9m), pushing the gross margin from £25.7m to £21.8m. This was mainly due to weaker order intake in the latter part of 2011 as industrial electronics demand softened in response to the weaker macroeconomic outlook. Gross margin was reduced to 46.9% (2011: 49.5%) due to a combination of Vietnam start-up costs and lower factory loading, the firm said. More positively, it has expanded its own-design products, which now account for 61% of revenues (2011: 55%) and second half revenues and earnings are expected to be substantially higher than those achieved in the first half of the current year. The share price has fall 34% in the past year, equal to 520p. Top Director BuysXP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) Director name: Mr James E PetersAmount purchased: 11,000 @ 1,010.50p Value: £111,155Tanfield Group (TAN) Director name: Mr Roy R E StanleyAmount purchased: 238,905 @ 42.00p Value: £100,340Dods (Group) (DODS) Director name: Sir Sir William WellsAmount purchased: 250,000 @ 4.75p Value: £11,875Amphion Innovations (AMP) Director name: Mr Richard James MacaleerAmount purchased: 265,129 @ 3.92p Value: £10,393NR