Persimmon's Jonathan Davie lays foundations

Persimmon non-executive Jonathan Davie started building a stake in the housebuilder with the purchase of £42,000 in shares. Davie, who was appointed to the board on January 1, bought 10,000 shares at 419.9p a time. His purchase comes soon after the company said it completed 8,976 house sales last year and has seen a 7% increase in sales and steady prices since the start of this year. The number of legal completions was down 12% on the 10,202 achieved in 2008, but in line with the figure flagged in an update in January. The average selling price dropped to £160,513 from £172,994. There was a pre-tax profit of £7m before exceptional items and goodwill charges, reflecting a stronger second half when profits jumped to £23.7m from a £16.7m loss the year before. Davie is the chairman of the spread-betting firm IG Index. Top Director Buys GlobeOp Financial Services (GO.) Director name: Mr Edward Annunziato Amount purchased: 48,000 @ 240.00p Value: £115,200 E2V Technologies (E2V) Director name: Mr Chris Geoghegan Amount purchased: 123,512 @ 40.00p Value: £49,405 Persimmon (PSN) Director name: Mr Jonathan R Davie Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 419.92p Value: £41,992 Restaurant Group (RTN) Director name: Mr Robert Morgan Amount purchased: 12,494 @ 211.00p Value: £26,362 Corin Group (CRG) Director name: Mr Michael R D Roller Amount purchased: 40,000 @ 58.50p Value: £23,400 Corin Group (CRG) Director name: Mr David Young Amount purchased: 40,000 @ 58.00p Value: £23,200 Trifast (TRI) Director name: Mr Neil Chapman Amount purchased: 80,000 @ 21.85p Value: £17,480 Ricardo Group (RCDO) Director name: Mr John Michael Harper Amount purchased: 5,000 @ 272.00p Value: £13,600 Xchanging (XCH) Director name: Ms Patricia O'Driscoll Amount purchased: 7,000 @ 191.70p Value: £13,419 Top Director Sells Serco Group (SRP) Director name: Mr Kevin S Beeston Amount sold: 283,760 @ 565.07p Value: £1,603,443 Serco Group (SRP) Director name: Mr Christopher R Hyman Amount sold: 283,760 @ 565.07p Value: £1,603,443 Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Mr Christopher C B Rogers Amount sold: 48,563 @ 1,447.70p Value: £703,047 Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Mr Alan C Parker Amount sold: 37,701 @ 1,447.70p Value: £545,797 Serco Group (SRP) Director name: Mr Andrew Jenner Amount sold: 72,033 @ 565.07p Value: £407,037 Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Mr Patrick Dempsey Amount sold: 16,154 @ 1,447.70p Value: £233,861 Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Mr Simon Barratt Amount sold: 13,195 @ 1,447.70p Value: £191,024 Invista Real Estate Investment Management Holdings (INRE) Director name: Mr Mark Lawson Amount sold: 200,000 @ 49.00p Value: £98,000 Camco International (CAO) Director name: Mr Scott J McGregor Amount sold: 600,000 @ 13.75p Value: £82,500 Share Plc (SHRE) Director name: Mr Richard Tolkien Amount sold: 79,889 @ 27.00p Value: £21,570