If you’d invested in: Sound Energy and Vivint Solar
Sound Energy is a London-based gas exploration and production company, whose shares have risen by over 500% in the past 12 months.
Sound Energy (Aim: SOU) is a London-based gas exploration and production company. The firm was founded in 2005 and initially focused on Indonesia. In 2011 it expanded into Italy, and in 2012 disposed of its Indonesian operations.
In 2015, it began operating in Morocco and secured licences that have delivered "above expectations". It made a pre-tax profit of £410,000 in the first half of 2016, up from a loss of £3.9m a year ago. Its shares have risen by over 500% in the past 12 months.
Be glad you didn't buy...
Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR)
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In March, Vivint abandoned a $2.2bn merger with now-bankrupt SunEdison, and failed in a bid to sue SunEdison for $1bn in damages. The shares have fallen by over 70% 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.
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