Gent makes bet on ConvaTec turnaround

City veteran and former Vodafone chief executive Sir Christopher Gent has bet £83,000 that ConvaTec, the troubled medical technology firm of which he is chairman, will make a speedy recovery.

Gent bought 38,889 shares in FTSE 100-listed ConvaTec at 213p a pop, taking his stake to 150,000 shares.

ConvaTec suffered its biggest single-day share price fall on Monday, down more than a fifth, when it used a profit warning to reveal that the problems it encountered while moving supplies from the US to the hurricane-torn Dominican Republic would lead to lower revenues and profits.

Reading-based ConvaTec, which makes dressings, continence and critical care products, as well as infusion devices for use in insulin and other pumps, made its market debut in 2016, listing at 225p a share and was the biggest flotation of the year, going straight into the FTSE 100.

Shares traded 3p lower at 213.5p today.

Sir Peter Wood today sold £21 million worth of shares in GoCompare.com to pay for an expansion of his property interests. He will still have 25% of the price-comparison website that became part of his esure insurance empire.