A CLUTCH of new licence deals and a return to profit in the second half of the year saw shares in Portrait Software surge ahead last week.
Although the IT market generally is being affected by a fall in investment in new systems, Portrait, which has a base in Edinburgh, is seeing increased ongoing revenue from existing customers.
Three directors at the company, which specialises in p
ackages to help companies manage customers, added to the market's interest in the shares by increasing their stakes.
Chief executive Luke McKeever bought 50,109 shares to up his holding to 75,109 and chairman Paul Hewitt and non-executive director Richard Goat bought their first stakes with purchases of 150,000 and 122,311 shares respectively. All the shares were bought at 10.8p. Shares in the group had been as low as 3.75p at the end of last year.
• Daniel Abrams, chief financial officer of fabrics group Fiberweb, has bought 70,000 shares at 70.8p a share.
He now holds 316,000 shares in the firm, which recently set up a joint venture with a Brazilian firm to target markets for lightweight non-woven fabrics.
• Terry Smith, chief executive of broking group Tullett Prebon, bought 439,731 shares at 267p each to raise his stake to 9.2 million. Finance director Paul Mainwaring also bought 103,683 shares at 269p.
• Dennis Millard, recently appointed chairman of retail group Halfords, has bought his first stake with the purchase of 15,000 shares at 310p each.
• Two directors at satellite technology firm Avanti Communications have increased their holdings.
Chairman John Brackenbury bought 10,000 shares and non-executive director Alan Foster took 35,000 shares, all at 225p.
The purchases came after the company said sales and profits this year will be significantly ahead of expectations.
• Paul Hampden Smith, finance director of builders' merchant Travis Perkins, bought 10,600 shares at around 530p each.
• Graham Forrest, chief executive of County Durham-based support services group Northern Bear, has sold part of his holding.
He disposed of 300,000 shares at 50p each, although he still retains a stake of almost 2 million shares.
The full article contains 372 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
