The week after Unilever delivered solid fourth-quarter results, Byron Grote, a non-executive director, nearly doubled his stake in the food and household goods giant, spending about £25,000 on shares.

Grote, also the chief financial officer of BP, bought 1,700 American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in Unilever at $20.88 (£14.61) a time and now has 3,500. ADRs are a means for US investors to buy into foreign companies.

Unilever, whose product range includes Pot Noodles, Persil washing powder and Vaseline, said turnover in the fourth quarter rose 3% from the same period a year ago to €10.15 billion (£9.13 billion), while net income jumped 51% to €1.19 billion.

However, the firm’s new chief executive Paul Polman declined to give a forecast for 2009. This cautious stance may have been influenced by Procter & Gamble — the only household goods company bigger than Unilever — which recently lowered its earnings and sales forecasts for the fiscal year ending in June. “We’re in for a crisis that is a little bit deeper than what we currently see. It might be a 12 to 24-month occurrence before we really get out of it,” Polman said.

IAN ADAMSON, managing director for the Europe and Americas division of SSL International, has added to his holding in the Durex condom and Scholl footcare product group with nearly £35,000 of shares. He paid 508.5p each for 6,821 shares and now has 74,666.

Shares in SSL have been flat over the past year, demonstrating the firm’s resilience in the face of sharp deteriorations elsewhere in the economy.

Last month SSL announced it is seeking to raise £80m to £85m from a placing to fund acquisitions. The firm is wanting to increase its exposure to condom distribution in emerging markets such as the former Soviet Union and China.

SSL reported pre-tax profits of £32.5m in the six months to September 30, up from £22.3m the previous year. Revenues climbed to £322.5m from £262.7m, with Durex sales increasing 10% to £126.4m. Scholl footcare revenues rose 15.1% to £84.4m and Scholl footwear sales were up 9.5% to £42.8m. Locally-owned brands accounted for most of the remaining turnover.

Adamson, who has previously worked with the US healthcare products giant Johnson & Johnson, was appointed an executive director at SSL in April 2004.

Directors have in-depth knowledge of their businesses so it can pay to track their moves. Every week Digitallook.com reveals those bosses who have bought or sold big stakes

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