Simon Cooper, CEO corporate, commercial, and institutional banking, and Europe & Americas of Asian-focused Standard Chartered Bank (STAN) has sold 1,482,343 shares at 650p for a total value of £9.64 million on 14 March.

The bank said last week that Cooper is leaving the company because of ‘a corporate shake-up.’

Cooper joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2016 from HSBC. Roberto Hoornweg and Sunil Kaushal will replace Cooper as co-heads of corporate and institutional banking.

Over the past year the bank’s shares have gained 13%.

Analysts at Swiss bank UBS recently said they viewed the stock as ‘cheap’ after the bank reported solid fourth quarter underlying pre-tax profit, a 50% dividend hike and a $1 billion share buyback.

BAE SYSTEMS CHAIR BUYS ON STRONG RESULTS

Cressida Hogg, chair of defence giant BAE Systems (BA.) has bought 13,698 shares at £13.20 for a total value of £180,779 on 20 March.

Hogg’s move comes after the FTSE 100 reported a strong set of full year results due to the ongoing Ukraine and Middle East conflicts.

Full year sales were up 9% to £25.28 billion, and the company also announced a 11% increase in dividend to 30p.

Year-to-date BAE Systems shares are up 22%.

DARKTRACE CEO OFFLOADS OVER £700,000 SHARES

Poppy Gustafsson, CEO of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity company Darktrace (DARK) has sold 150,000 shares at 468p for a total value of £701,310 on 21 March.

On the same day private equity firm KKR (Kolhberg Kravis Roberts) announced the sale of 19.4 million shares at 425p via an institutional placing for a consideration of £82.5 million.

This represents a full exit by a fund advised by KKR, leaving a second fund advised by the firm with a 7.3% stake in Darktrace.

The company recently reported a positive set of results with revenue up 27% and upgraded its guidance to between 24%-25% in the first half of 2024.

Over the past year shares in Darktrace are up 56%.

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