MORRISONS’ chief executive David Potts has again backed himself to turn around the supermarket group by buying shares worth £500,000.
His move follows a week when Morrisons’ share price has fallen by 10%. Its shares closed at 176p on September 10, but the following day the Bradford-based group announced disappointing half-year figures, which were down 5.1% with pre-tax profits down 47%.
Mr Potts’ purchase nearly doubles his personal shareholding, which is now worth £1.3m. His latest investment is roughly equivalent to his annual take-home pay as chief executive.
He spent £1.05m in his first week at the retailer in March, buying 508,000 shares at 205.85p each, which are now worth £800,000. This purchase, of 315,000 shares, were at 158.79p each.
Morrisons’ finance director Trevor Strain also invested £100,000 in the company’s shares last Friday.
Its share price, which closed at 159p last night is now back to the lows of last autumn despite recovering to reach 208p in April.
The retailer’s share price is of particular importance as it languishes near the bottom of the FTSE 100 list and in the last two quarterly reviews has been close to dropping out.
