By Graham Hayday, 12 February 2002 07:30
NEWS BT CEO Ben Verwaayen put his money where his mouth is yesterday by spending £1m of his own money on shares in his new employer. Sir Christopher Bland, the company's chairman, also got out the cheque book and snapped up a similar amount, adding to a £1m personal investment he made in May last year. Non-executive director John Nelson joined the dynamic duo by purchasing 49,200 shares for around £127,000. Their shares were bought at an average price of 257.8p - which isn't far off the lowest point BT stock has reached in the past decade. The city reacted cautiously to the news. BT's share price rose slightly by three per cent by close yesterday to 257.5p. A JP Morgan Chase analyst told the FT: "It's good for the stock if management buys shares. But if you look at the history of telecoms operators and senior people buying shares, it's pretty chequered. Senior telecoms executives have not been the best judge of when to jump ship and when to buy." BT goes to court later today in an attempt to defend its hyperlink patent.
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