Alastair Lyons, the long-standing Chairman of Admiral Group, the non-life insurance giant, reduced his stake by 100,000 shares in the wake of a strong set of full year results.

In a sale made on behalf of his wife, Lyons disposed of the shares at 1,314p each, shrinking his holding to 392,152 shares.

The announcement was made Thursday, one day after the company cheered investors with news of a 20% increase in the total dividend, prompted by a 15% year-on-year increase in pre-tax profit, from £299m to £343m.

Turnover climbed 1.0% from £2.19bn to £2.22bn, while earnings per share totalled 95.1p, up from 81.9p in 2011.

The group made progress in most of its divisions, but posted a loss for its international price comparison businesses, albeit reduced from the previous year.

The group's UK price comparison business, Confused.com, delivered a pre-tax profit of £18.2m - around £2.0m higher than 2011's result, on 7.0% higher revenue.

Paul Walsh, who has been the Chief Executive Officer of Diageo since 2000, has continued to sells off his stake in the FTSE 100 drinks giant.

The director this time disposed of 50,000 at 2,011.00p a time, generating a total of £1.0m.

Walsh has made a number of signifcant sales in the past months, and prior to this transaction most recently traded in 75,000 shares at 1,935.00p a time.




Top Director Buys

Patagonia Gold (PGD)
Director name: Mr Carlos Miguens
Amount purchased: 13,117,333 @ 15.00p
Value: £1,967,600

Patagonia Gold (PGD)
Director name: Mr William Humphries
Amount purchased: 1,500,000 @ 15.00p
Value: £225,000

Drax Group (DRX)
Director name: Mr Melanie Gee
Amount purchased: 7,900 @ 625.00p
Value: £49,375

Communisis (CMS)
Director name: Mr Peter Hickson
Amount purchased: 110,778 @ 40.00p
Value: £44,311

Rotork (ROR)
Director name: Ms Sally James
Amount purchased: 1,050 @ 2,957.00p
Value: £31,048

Total Produce (TOT)
Director name: Mr Seamus Taaffe
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 51.85p
Value: £25,925

Telford Homes (TEF)
Director name: Mr David Durant
Amount purchased: 12,500 @ 200.00p
Value: £25,000

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Ms Adèle Anderson
Amount purchased: 6,000 @ 332.76p
Value: £19,966


Top Director Sells

Admiral Group (ADM)
Director name: Mr Alastair Lyons
Amount sold: 100,000 @ 1,314.00p
Value: £1,314,000

Diageo (DGE)
Director name: Mr Paul S Walsh
Amount sold: 50,000 @ 2,011.00p
Value: £1,005,500

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)
Director name: Mrs Vyvienne Wade
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 814.30p
Value: £162,860

Hays (HAS)
Director name: Mr Alistair R Cox
Amount sold: 106,734 @ 99.72p
Value: £106,435

Telford Homes (TEF)
Director name: Mr John Fitzgerald
Amount sold: 12,500 @ 200.00p
Value: £25,000

Related share prices
Diageo (DGE) share price
Hays (HAS) share price
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) share price
Rotork (ROR) share price
Communisis (CMS) share price
Telford Homes (TEF) share price
Patagonia Gold (PGD) share price
Admiral Group (ADM) share price
Drax Group (DRX) share price
Total Produce (TOT) share price
Intu Properties (INTU) share price