Shire chairman raises £1.5m from disposal

Matthew Emmens, the chairman of pharma company Shire, has raised nearly £1.5m from a share sale.

Emmens sold 33,302 American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at an average price of $66.44. Each ADS is equivalent to three ordinary shares. The selling price was equivalent to £14.70 a share.

Last week, Emmens made a profit of £2.16m from the sale of options.

The share price has been strong since the US Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval for VPRIV, a treatment for Gaucher disease, at the beginning of March.

Emmens retains 92,874 Shares and 60,861 ADSs - equivalent to a total of 275,457 shares.

Shire declared an interim dividend of 9.25 cents a share but the shares do not go ex-dividend until 10 March so Emmens will not be receiving the dividend on the shares he sold.

Emmens was chief executive of Shire between 2003 and 2008, when he was appointed chairman.

Shire reported a 2% decline in revenues to $2.69bn in 2009. Income after tax from continuing operations improved from $155.7m to $174.3m.

In the first quarter of the current year Shire expects revenues and earnings to be behind those seen in the corresponding period of 2009, reflecting the generic competition to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder drug Adderall XR.


Top Director Buys

GlobeOp Financial Services (GO.)
Director name: Mr Edward Annunziato
Amount purchased: 57,548 @ 250.00p
Value: £143,870

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY)
Director name: Mr Anthony Watson
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 53.09p
Value: £53,090

Standard Chartered (STAN)
Director name: Dr Han Seung-Soo
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ 1,721.30p
Value: £34,426

Booker Group (BOK)
Director name: Mrs Karen Jones
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 44.00p
Value: £22,000


Top Director Sells

Shire Plc (SHP)
Director name: Mr Matthew Emmens
Amount sold: 99,906 @ 1,469.94p
Value: £1,468,558

Telecity Group (TCY)
Director name: Mr Brian McArthur Muscroft
Amount sold: 349,995 @ 405.00p
Value: £1,417,480

Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP)
Director name: The Rt. Ho the Earl of Cromer
Amount sold: 75,000 @ 180.50p
Value: £135,375

Keller Group (KLR)
Director name: Mr Robert Rubright
Amount sold: 4,982 @ 651.50p
Value: £32,458

DS Smith (SMDS)
Director name: Mr Stephen William Dryden
Amount sold: 15,820 @ 125.40p
Value: £19,838