Shares in Cable & Wireless Communications were in demand Monday after it revealed the telecom company's chief executive Anthony Rice shelled out nearly £1m on shares.

Rice bought 2.5m shares at 37.63p a pop. His latest purchase comes on the back of steady falls in the company's share price following its full-year results last month.

The first year of independence saw earnings remain virtually static, largely as a result of a more difficult Caribbean market than the telecoms group expected at the time of its demerger from Cable & Wireless.

Group revenue in the year ended 31 March rose 4% to $2,440m from $2,346m the year before. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) edged up 1% to $872m from $866m the year before, while profit before tax jumped 21% to $462m from $383m.

Soon after the results, Rice bought 500,000 shares at between 43p and 45p a time, but that failed to stop the shares sliding to the price he paid for his latest purchase.

At 4.10pm, shares in Cable & Wireless Communications were up 5.4% at 39.54p.

Top Director Buys

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC)
Director name: Mr William Anthony Rice
Amount purchased: 2,500,000 @ 37.63p
Value: £940,750

Filtrona PLC (FLTR)
Director name: Mr Colin R Day
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 361.40p
Value: £180,700

F&C Asset Management (FCAM)
Director name: Mr Edward Bramson
Amount purchased: 196,012 @ 73.82p
Value: £144,696

United Business Media Ltd. (UBM)
Director name: Mr John C Botts
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 519.00p
Value: £103,800

Green Dragon Gas Ltd. (DI) (GDG)
Director name: Mr David Turnbull
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ $9.50
Value: $19,000

Qatar Investment Fund (QIF)
Director name: Mr Leonard Joseph O'Brien
Amount purchased: 16,700 @ $0.88
Value: $14,780

Brammer (BRAM)
Director name: Mr Paul Thwaite
Amount purchased: 3,469 @ 303.29p
Value: £10,521

Personal Group Holdings (PGH)
Director name: Mr Ken W Rooney
Amount purchased: 3,626 @ 278.00p
Value: £10,080

Top Director Sells

BrainJuicer Group (BJU)
Director name: Mr Simon Godfrey
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 290.00p
Value: £58,000

Wynnstay Group (WYN)
Director name: Mr B Paul Roberts
Amount sold: 4,000 @ 358.00p
Value: £14,320

Brammer (BRAM)
Director name: Mr Paul Thwaite
Amount sold: 3,582 @ 301.10p
Value: £10,785

Related share prices
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) share price
UBM (UBM) share price
Brammer (BRAM) share price
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) share price
Personal Group Holdings (PGH) share price
Wynnstay Group (WYN) share price
Filtrona PLC (FLTR) share price
Green Dragon Gas Ltd. (DI) (GDG) share price
BrainJuicer Group (BJU) share price
Qatar Investment Fund (QIF) share price