Frank Nelson, the Finance Director of Galliford Try, the house-building and construction firm, has sold 80,000 shares on the same day the company reported soaring profits in the year ended June 30th.

Nelson, who was appointed to the board in 2000, traded in the shares at 686.63p each for a total of £549,304.

He made the sale despite the company announcing it would nearly double the dividend from 26p to 30p per share.

Profit before tax surged 80% to £63.1m from £35.1m the previous year, while earnings per share jumped 89% to 60.9p from 32.2p last year. The divi rose in line with earnings, from 16p to 30p.

The current order book is more or less stable at £1.65bn, versus £1.7bn at the end of June 2011.


Top Director Buys

CLS Holdings (CLI)
Director name: Mr Sten A Mortstedt
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 705.00p
Value: £70,500

Fyffes (FFY)
Director name: Mr James O'Dwyer
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 41.05p
Value: £20,525

Volex (VLX)
Director name: Mr Michael McTighe
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 187.00p
Value: £18,700

Volex (VLX)
Director name: Mr Ray Walsh
Amount purchased: 7,500 @ 187.00p
Value: £14,025

VietNam Holding Ltd (VNH)
Director name: Mr Nguyen Quoc Khanh
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ $1.01
Value: $10,125


Top Director Sells

Wood Group (John) (WG.)
Director name: Mr Allister G Langlands
Amount sold: 250,000 @ 841.00p
Value: £2,102,500

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED)
Director name: Mr Eamonn O'Hare
Amount sold: 26,000 @ 1,817.17p
Value: £472,464

Galliford Try (GFRD)
Director name: Mr Frank Nelson
Amount sold: 80,000 @ 686.63p
Value: £549,304

Afren (AFR)
Director name: Mr Ennio Sganzerla
Amount sold: 100,000 @ 142.80p
Value: £142,800

Gooch & Housego (GHH)
Director name: Mr Gareth Jones
Amount sold: 18,726 @ 425.00p
Value: £79,586

Related share prices
CLS Holdings (CLI) share price
Fyffes (FFY) share price
Galliford Try (GFRD) share price
Gooch & Housego (GHH) share price
Volex (VLX) share price
Wood Group (John) (WG.) share price
Afren (AFR) share price
Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) share price