Directors' Share Sale Drives Down Domino's Pizza Share Price

Domino's Pizza's shares hit a six-month low after property magnate Nigel Wray and chairman Stephen Hemsley sold nearly £20m of shares in the takeaway pizza delivery company.

Mr Wray, who bought into Domino's Pizza in 1997, sold 9.5m shares at 180p, cutting his stake in the company to 16.75pc. Mr Hemsley sold 1m shares, leaving him with a 3.74pc holding. In total they sold £18.9m of shares.

The shares slid 30 to 186p after the share disposals sparked fears that trading at Domino's might be suffering in the face of the consumer downturn.

A non-executive director at Domino's, Mr Wray also owns Saracens rugby club and is thought to be worth about £250m.

A spokesman for Domino's said Mr Wray had offloaded the stake to "diversify his portfolio", while Mr Hemsley was looking to free up cash to finance a property transaction.

She said trading at the company remained strong and denied the disposals were linked to any slowdown.