Money expert Martin Lewis pockets £25.5m in Moneysupermarket.com share deal

On Thursday, the group’s pre-tax profits rose 44% to £30.2 million with revenues from MoneySavingExpert.com up 30%.

The personal finance guru, who continues to hold a 1.5% stake in the business, has agreed to a further lock-up of 180 days from the date hereof in respect of his remaining shares in the company.

Martin Lewis, who created the consumer advisory service in 2003, sold nine million shares in Moneysupermarket.com at 280p apiece, in a placing that was handled by bankers at Credit Suisse. Moneysupermarket shares were down 5.1% to 281.4 pence on Friday morning, the worst performer in the FTSE 250. As part of that deal, he received £35m and was issued 22.1m shares, of which he handed 4.75m over to the Charities Aid Foundation.

The charity also sold the bulk of its stake today – 4.3 million shares worth £12 million – leaving it with a 0.1% stake in the firm.