Departing Serco chairman sells most of his stake

Departing chairman Kevin Beeston has sold nearly all his remaining shares in outsourcing group Serco.

Alastair Lyons will take up the chairmanship of the company after the Annual General Meeting on 11 May. Lyons has been non-executive chairman of Admiral Group since 2000.

Beeston's departure marks his 25th anniversary at Serco. He was executive chairman for more than six years before switching to non-executive chairman in September 2007. He was previously finance director and then chief executive.

The sale of 293,900 shares at 594p a share, raises £1.75m and leaves Beeston with 25 shares in Serco.

Earlier this month Beeston raised £1.6m from the sale of nil cost options, while in October he generated just over £410,000 from share sales.

On 24 September, Beeston exercised options over 776,837 shares at a cost of £1.58m. He immediately sold 506,112 shares at 503.32p each, raising £2.55m.

Top Director Buys

Kirkland Lake Gold (KGI)
Director name: Mr George A Milton
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 504.14p
Value: £504,140

Johnston Press (JPR)
Director name: Mr John Fry
Amount purchased: 423,555 @ 28.98p
Value: £122,746

Brit Insurance Holdings NV (BRE)
Director name: Dr Cornelis A C M (Cees) Schrauwers
Amount purchased: 14,000 @ 758.00p
Value: £106,120

Johnston Press (JPR)
Director name: Mr Stuart R Paterson
Amount purchased: 294,654 @ 28.98p
Value: £85,391

Johnston Press (JPR)
Director name: Mr Danny Cammiade
Amount purchased: 251,280 @ 28.98p
Value: £72,821

Leyshon Resources (LRL)
Director name: Mr Paul Campbell Atherley
Amount purchased: 530,000 @ 10.50p
Value: £55,650

Plantic Technologies (PLNT)
Director name: Mr Ian Wightwick
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 9.20p
Value: £18,400

Plantic Technologies (PLNT)
Director name: Mr Brendan Morris
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 9.20p
Value: £18,400

Johnston Press (JPR)
Director name: Mr Ian M Russell
Amount purchased: 55,513 @ 28.98p
Value: £16,088

Aegis Group (AGS)
Director name: Mr Simon T Laffin
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 124.70p
Value: £12,470


Top Director Sells

RSA Insurance Group (RSA)
Director name: Mr Andrew K Haste
Amount sold: 5,728,875 @ 125.71p
Value: £7,201,769

Serco Group (SRP)
Director name: Mr Kevin S Beeston
Amount sold: 293,900 @ 594.00p
Value: £1,745,766

BP (BP.)
Director name: Dr Dr Anthony (Tony) B Hayward
Amount sold: 223,288 @ 623.20p
Value: £1,391,531

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.)
Director name: Mr Colin R Day
Amount sold: 32,850 @ 3,498.38p
Value: £1,149,218

Rio Tinto (RIO)
Director name: Mr Guy R Elliott
Amount sold: 30,000 @ 3,777.00p
Value: £1,133,100

Shire Plc (SHP)
Director name: Mr Angus Russell
Amount sold: 41,239 @ 1,438.06p
Value: £593,042

Rathbone Brothers (RAT)
Director name: Mr G Mark Powell
Amount sold: 50,000 @ 848.00p
Value: £424,000

Shire Plc (SHP)
Director name: Mr Angus Russell
Amount sold: 23,371 @ 1,440.00p
Value: £336,542

Anglo American (AAL)
Director name: Mr Rene Medori
Amount sold: 7,615 @ 2,706.00p
Value: £206,062

Beazley Group (BEZ)
Director name: Mr Andrew Beazley
Amount sold: 146,368 @ 107.89p
Value: £157,916