/ 2 February 2001

DIDATA DIRECTORS – FOOLISH OR WISE?

FOR the second time in two months, directors of Didata, SA’s biggest information technology company, have cashed in millions of rands in share options, widening the number of multimillionaires in the company, Business Day reports. Didata directors shed more than 3,4m- shares this week. A source close to the company said investors should be envious, rather than suspicious, about the number of shares being cashed in. The move came just a month after the last share sale by directors, when 6,2m personal shares were traded for a total of R350m, in terms of Didata’s share incentive scheme. Chairman Jeremy Ord was among the December sellers, cashing in 894875 of his 14,1m company shares for about R50,6m. An analyst said then the next 12 months would tell if the directors had been foolish or wise to sell at the prevailing price of R56. With the shares this week at R60,66, the first sellers may be wishing they had delayed a month.