After a flurry of trades by directors in company shares during 2021, the new year has seen activity calm down considerably. Only three companies have published director trades in the first week of 2022, according to analysis by Shares.

The biggest in monetary terms is a £75,000 purchase of Atome Energy (ATOM:AIM) stock by non-executive director Mary-Rose de Valladares. The green hydrogen group was spun out of oil and gas group President Energy on 30 December 2021, and it hopes to start production in 2024.

Big Technologies’ (BIG:AIM) chief technology officer Charles Lewinton made his first investment in the company’s stock, spending £63,000 on 20,000 shares.

The remote people monitoring technology company joined the stock market last July and has already seen its share price rise by 62%. The company mainly serves the criminal justice market but says its technologies could also be deployed across additional areas, such as in healthcare and care services.

Two directors in chemicals group Johnson Matthey (JMAT) have bought stock in the past week. Non-executive director Doug Webb spent £51,827 on shares and Chris Mottershead, also a non-executive director, acquired £31,520 worth of stock.

In December, shares in Johnson Matthey traded at their lowest level since the start of the pandemic as many investors lost interest in the business after it decided to end efforts to develop battery technology for electric vehicles.

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Issue Date: 07 Jan 2022