If you’d invested in: Burford Capital and Plant Health Care

published 12 August 2016

Burford Capital (Aim: BUR) is a litigation-finance firm, which provides funding for businesses who want to pursue legal claims. The company has offices in New York and London, and is listed in London.

Income rose by 88% in the six months to 30 June, with operating profit up by 117%. Brexit is expected to be good for business, with the company saying there is "likely to be more litigation" as a result. Shares are up by 135% in the last year.

Be glad you didn't buy...

Plant Health Care (Aim: PHC)

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The company has "a history of losses since inception, anticipates continuing to incur losses in the future and may not achieve or maintain profitability", says the latest annual report. In the year ending 30 December 2015, Plant Health Care made a pre-tax loss of $7.6m. It now hopes to raise £7.6m in a share placing. Shares are down by over 80% in the last year.

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Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin.

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.