Director dealings: Sophos chief executive lowers stake

Kris Hagerman, chief executive of cybersecurity firm Sophos, disposed of 468,494 shares in the firm on Friday.

Hagerman, who was awarded the shares earlier in the day as part of Sophos' long-term incentive plan, sold the shares at an average price of 501.29p each in two separate transactions, collecting a total of £2.29m in the process.

As a result of the sale, the software firm's chief executive lowered his stake in the firm to 2.56m ordinary shares.

Back in July, Sophos Group reported that its cash EBITDA for the first quarter of its financial year fell 26% to $20.3m, as group billings saw their momentum falter.

During the quarter ended 30 June, the IT security firm saw lower than anticipated group billings growth of 6%, just 2% at constant currency rates, and the renewal rate fall to 114% in the first quarter compared to 141% a year ago.

Revenues, however, jumped by 24% to $175.5m as subscription revenue grew 27% thanks to a strong performance from the Sophos Central and Intercept X businesses, with a currency tailwind also helping.

As of 1515 BST, Sophos shares were down 0.98% to 505p.