Michael Page bosses sold £2.8m of shares before profits alert

Two long-standing executives on the board of international recruiter Michael Page sold £2.8 million worth of shares just weeks before yesterday's profit warning saw the shares crash to a two-year low.

Stephen Puckett, Page's finance director for the past decade, cashed in shares worth £2.4 million on the 17 and 18 November at an average price of 378p.

Charles-Henri Dumon, Page's managing director of continental Europe and the Americas, sold shares worth £475,700 on 15 and 16 November at an average price of 367p.

That was a mere three weeks before Page's dramatic profits warning yesterday, when it flagged up signs of the eurozone slump hammering confidence among corporate clients.

The warning of slowing growth across key markets saw the recruiter's shares slide 13.4% to 316p at one stage. They staged a later partial recovery but were still trading today at only 344p.

As boss of Page's business in continental Europe, Dumon, who joined the jobs company in 1985 and was appointed a director in 1987, may have been the executive with the highest visibility of the business slowdown across the eurozone region.

The company yesterday reported that growth across Europe, the Middle East and Africa had slowed from 23% in the third quarter to 18% in October and November.

In the Americas, another part of the business which Dumon presides over, growth dropped from 47% to 28%.

Michael Page said that as a result, its full-year profits would miss the lower end of analyst estimates of £86.5 million. Analysts issued a string of negative research notes, with Paul Jones, at Panmure Gordon, saying: "This news gives us a big flag for 2012."

The Financial Services Authority's code for listed companies states directors cannot deal in the 30 days before a trading statement.

However, Michael Page said yesterday's announcement was unscheduled so was not covered by a closed period.

Puckett, who in July set out plans to leave Michael Page for personal reasons, now owns no shares directly in the recruiter.

In November Puckett, who does not yet have a departure date, exercised options on 50,000 shares at 191p, then sold the shares at 380p on 18 November.

The finance director still retains options over 1.1 million shares.

Dumon owns 605,000 shares with options over another 1.1 million.

Michael Page declined to comment.