The Chairman of BG Group, the FTSE 100 natural gas group, on Tuesday purchased 35,000 shares, nearly doubling his stake to 65,000.

Andrew Gould, who took up the role last year, purchased the shares at 1,120.00p a time, costing a total of £392,000.

One week ago the company posted a 29% drop in fourth quarter earnings, as a result of a decline in cargo deliveries.

Earnings for the last three months of 2012 came to $1.0bn, down from $1.4bn the previous year, primarily as a result of $277m tax credit in 2011.

The results were in line with a 12% drop to $1.8bn in total operating profit for the period. The group's earnings per share came to $0.30, a 29% decline from the year before, while dividend per share rose 10% to $0.14.


Top Director Buys

Datatec Ltd. (DI) (DTC)
Director name: Mr Jens Montanana
Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 335.30p
Value: £1,005,900

BG Group (BG.)
Director name: Mr Andrew Gould
Amount purchased: 35,000 @ 1,120.00p
Value: £392,000

Avanti Communications Group (AVN)
Director name: Mr Paul Johnson
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 277.00p
Value: £27,700

President Energy (PPC)
Director name: Mr Peter Levine
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 23.00p
Value: £23,000

3i Group (III)
Director name: Mrs Julia Wilson
Amount purchased: 3,921 @ 285.98p
Value: £11,213


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Related share prices
BG Group (BG.) share price
3i Group (III) share price
President Energy (PPC) share price
Datatec Ltd. (DI) (DTC) share price
Avanti Communications Group (AVN) share price