The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of KCOM, the FTSE 250 broadband and communications provider, sold half a million shares at 73.5p each.Paul Simpson, who has held the role of CFO since May 2004, earned £367,500 before tax from the transaction. He now holds 1.02m shares in the group, equal to 0.198% of the issued share capital. In its most recent update KCOM reported a slight fall in revenue and earnings in the first half, but said that this was still a "solid performance in challenging conditions". Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 3.9% from £40.7m to £39.1m. However, profit before tax improved by 2.2% from £27.0m to £27.6m, due to a reduction in interest costs and lower depreciation. It also reported a large increase in net debt from £75.3m at March 31st to £94.3m, partly due to a working capital outflow associated with a number of unconnected on-off factors, an increase in capital expenditure and the purchase of £10m KCOM shares as part of its share scheme obligations. This was the first increase in net debt in four years following seven consecutive six-month periods of decreases. The firm said it expects a "modest reduction" in net debt in the second half, but it will still be higher year-on-year, mainly due to share scheme purchases. Top Director BuysSierra Rutile Ltd (SRX) Director name: Mr Richard Lister Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 60.00p Value: £60,000C&C Group (CCR) Director name: Mr Richard HolroydAmount purchased: 12,226 @ € 4.64 Value: € 56,701Amino Technologies (AMO) Director name: Mrs Julia Hornby Amount purchased: 33,149 @ 75.00p Value: £24,862Top Director SellsEvraz (EVR) Director name: Mr Alexander AbramovAmount sold: 278,010 @ 311.75p Value: £866,696Evraz (EVR) Director name: Mr Alexander FrolovAmount sold: 138,796 @ 311.75p Value: £432,697KCOM Group (KCOM) Director name: Mr Paul SimpsonAmount sold: 500,000 @ 73.50p Value: £367,500NR
