Ocado's director of legal and business affairs Neill Abrams has bought nearly £100,000 worth of shares in the online grocery company.

Abrams took 59,000 shares at 166p a go, taking his holding to 133,100. Chief financial officer Andrew Bracey took 3,000 shares at 168p each and has a holding of 812,555.

Ocado, which delivers groceries from the upmarket Waitrose chain, has had a bumpy ride since floating on the stock exchange last week.

The shares floated at 180p a share and fell sharply amid worries over future performance.

Ocado has few assets and is yet to make a pre-tax profit, though sales are expected to continue rising as internet shopping rises in popularity.

'We have had extremely positive reactions from investors in the UK, Continental Europe and the US and the fact that our IPO completed successfully in very difficult markets is an endorsement of the long-term growth potential offered by Ocado,' said chief executive Tim Steiner.

'I am looking forward to entering the next phase of growth at Ocado and creating more new jobs and opportunities for Ocado people.'

Top Director Buys

Ocado (OCDO)
Director name: Mr Neill Abrams
Amount purchased: 59,000 @ 166.00p
Value: £97,940

Directex Realisations (DXR)
Director name: Mr Jonathan Lander
Amount purchased: 1,000,000 @ 1.40p
Value: £14,000

Related share prices
Directex Realisations (DXR) share price
Ocado Group (OCDO) share price