Director Dealings: Cyprotex confident of meeting City expectations

DESPITE a sharp fall in interim profits, drug research firm Cyprotex is confident of its future prospects.

After a slow start to the year the company said momentum seen in the second quarter was continuing into the current period.

The company has recently made two acquisitions and opened a new toxicology laboratory, and said it is on track to meet market expectations for both revenues and profitability.

Last week five directors went into the market to increase their stakes with hefty purchases. Chief scientific officer Katya Tsaioun and chief marketing officer Douglas Bates were the biggest buyers with purchases of 1.7 million and 5.3 million shares respectively. Chairman Steve Harris, chief executive Anthony Baxter and chief financial officer John Dootson also bought more than 1.5 million shares between them. They paid 3.5p each for the shares.

n Two non-executives at retailer WH Smith have upped their holdings in the company. Robert Walker, who is stepping down from his post as chairman at the end of the month, bought 32,500 shares at 404p each and now holds 72,243 shares.

Walker Byron, who will take over the reins as chairman in September, bought 20,000 shares at 406p each and now holds 35,000 shares.

n Two directors of construction group Rok have gone into the market to buy shares following the recent slump in the company's market value.

Chief executive Garvis Snook has bought 250,000 shares at 20.25p each to increase his stake to 966,084 shares. Chairman Stephen Pettit bought 25,000 shares at a similar price and now holds 80,326 shares.

Shares in the company fell sharply earlier this month when it revealed issues at one of its divisions and the suspension of its finance director.

n The wife of Tim Wade, a non-executive director at insurance industry consolidator Resolution, has bought the couple's first stake in the business. The 40,000 shares were bought at 251.5p each.

n Stephen Ellis, a director of GCP Infrastructure Investments, has sold 402,883 shares at 103.5p each. He now holds 581,000 shares in the firm.

n Nigel Snook, chief executive of Education Development International, has topped up his already substantial stake. He purchased 15,000 shares at 93.5p each and now holds just over 3.14 million shares.

n Jeremy Dowler, chairman of Mozambique-focused metals explorer Baobab Resources, has bought 200,000 shares at 8.75p each. The purchase took his holding up to more than eight million shares.