Builder supremo sells £3.6m shares

BARRATT Developments’s boss has become the latest housebuilding top dog to sell a huge chunk of shares in their own firm.

David Thomas made £3.6m when he sold more than 616,000 shares at 590p each on Friday, it was revealed yesterday.

Around 216,000 of the shares were granted to Thomas, 54, under Barratt’s executive share option scheme, and about £720,000 raised from the sale of these was used to cover tax obligations and dealing costs.

Alongside the option shares, Thomas – whose total remuneration came in at £3.3m in 2016 – sold 400,000 ordinary shares.

Thomas became Barratt chief executive in July 2015, and still holds more than 1m shares following the sale.

There has been more than £177m worth of profittaking among housebuilding bosses in recent weeks, which has triggered fears among investors that top brass are calling the top of the market.

But broker Jefferies remains unconvinced, last week claiming the sector still has far to go – adding that the current drop in sentiment actually offers a buying opportunity for investors.