five non-executive directors have collectively bought almost £180,000-worth of shares in a show of support for the supermarket chain’s new strategy of taking on discounters Aldi and Lidl.The quintet, led by chairman Sir Ian Gibson, went into the market on Friday to buy the shares at 203.1p – just a day after Morrisons warned it was starting a price war that would see underlying profits more than halve to £325m-£375m in the current 2014-2015 financial year.
The news sent the shares down 12pc to 205.2p on Thursday, and hammered the sector, as investors took fright at the prospect of a vicious fight with the German discounters and the likes of Tesco – all of which have deeper pockets than Morrisons.
Sir Ian, who earns £375,000 a year for chairing the company, bought £40,000 of shares, topping his holding up to 127,750 shares, while Johanna Waterous lifted her holding from 6,716 to 20,216 shares, snapping up just under £27,500-worth.
But three directors bought their first shares in the group, including senior independent director Philip Cox, who has been on the board since April 2009 and earns non-exec fees of £80,000 a year. He bought just over £50,000 of shares.
