Steve Hannam, the Chairman of FTSE 250 sausage casing supplier Devro, has added to 12,594 shares to his and his wife's stake in the company on the same day the company warned that full-year operating profits will be slightly below expectations, although still ahead of last year.

Hannam purchased the shares at 317.61p each for a total of £40,000. He and his wife now hold 223,622 shares, equal to 0.135% of the issued share capital.

The firm blamed the decrease in expected profits on a number of factors, namely adverse currency movements, increased raw material costs and extended plant commissioning periods. It said it expects the trend of increased raw material prices to continue into next year.

Consensus forecasts for the full year ending December 31st are for pre-tax profits of £43.64m on turnover of £242.50m. Earnings per share are expected to come in at 21.15p, putting it on a price earnings ratio of 15.9.

In an interim management statement covering the period from July 1st to date, the firm was upbeat about turnover, saying: "Sales volumes have continued to grow across a wide range of markets, notably in Japan, Europe and the Americas, with sales of the premium 'Select' range continuing the momentum of the first half. Overall market demand remains strong both in established and emerging markets."


Top Director Buys

PureCircle Ltd. (DI) (PURE)
Director name: Mr Tan Boon Seng
Amount purchased: 35,000 @ 240.00p
Value: £84,000

Cash Converters International Ltd (CCVU)
Director name: Mr Peter Cumins
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 52.28p
Value: £52,280

Devro (DVO)
Director name: Mr Steve Hannam
Amount purchased: 12,594 @ 317.61p
Value: £40,000

UBM (UBM)
Director name: Dame Helen Alexander
Amount purchased: 3,596 @ 690.00p
Value: £24,812

CLS Holdings (CLI)
Director name: Mr Sten A Mortstedt
Amount purchased: 2,395 @ 710.00p
Value: £17,004


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Xaar (XAR)
Director name: Mr Ian Dinwoodie
Amount sold: 200,000 @ 255.00p
Value: £510,000

M. P. Evans Group (MPE)
Director name: Mr James Derek Shaw
Amount sold: 5,000 @ 494.00p
Value: £24,700

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