Since January, directors of Sportingbet have been unable to deal in the company’s shares, locked out by the Takeover Panel and the pre-results closed period.
Sportingbet had been struggling to find cash to pay for Sportsbook, its US acquisition, and had also received a bid approach from an unknown suitor.
But on July 14 the company sorted out the American situation, and announced the bid approach was off. The announcement of pre-tax profits of £1.4m soon followed, finally leaving Payne free to buy shares.