LONDON (ShareCast) - Investment bank Close Brothers has enjoyed a bullish year with profits recently climbing to a record high.

The group cited a relatively benign economic climate and a good performance in the stock market for the results, which saw a better than expected rise in pre-tax profit to £157m for the year to July from £112m a year ago.

Peter Winkworth, former managing director turned non-executive director at Close Brothers, has used the recent rally in the share price to net a tidy sum.

Winkworth exercised options over 70,000 shares at a price of 483p per share and subsequently sold the lot for 973p per share. The sale left him with a net profit of just over £343,000.

The sale leaves Winkworth, who joined the company in 1977 before aiding a management buyout two years later, with a net holding of just over 600,000 shares in the group.


Top Director Buys

Quadrise Fuels International (QFI)
Director name: Mr Anthony Lowrie
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 15.75p
Value: £31,500

MicroEmissive Displays (MED)
Director name: Mr Christopher Smith
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 30.00p
Value: £15,000

MicroEmissive Displays (MED)
Director name: Mr Peter Denyer
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 30.00p
Value: £15,000


Top Director Sells

Close Brothers (CBG)
Director name: Mr P L Winkworth
Amount sold: 70,000 @ 972.50p
Value: £680,750

Clipper Windpower (CWP)
Director name: Mr Albert J Baciocco Jr
Amount sold: 10,000 @ 517.00p
Value: £51,700

Biofutures International (BIP)
Director name: Mr Phillip J Carter
Amount sold: 200,000 @ 25.00p
Value: £50,000

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