If you'd invested in: LPA Group and Bonmarché

published 11 November 2016

LPA Group (Aim: LPA) designs and manufactures LED lighting systems from its headquarters in Cambridge. Having "entered the year at a gallop", the company confirmed in a trading statement in September that it was "still galloping", and is likely to exceed market expectations. Latest half-yearly results show revenue up by 32% and pre-tax profits up too. Brexit hasn't affected the outlook, which "appears to be extremely positive". Its shares are up by more than 130% in the last year.

Be glad you didn't

Wakefield-based Bonmarch (LSE: BON) sells clothes and accessories to "mature women" via shops and mail-order catalogues, and online. A "difficult" first quarter of 2016, with like-for-like sales down by 7.7%, was followed by an equally tough second quarter and "extremely poor" sales in September, leading to a second profits warning in 12 months and forecast of "considerable uncertainty" ahead. The share price has fallen by more than 70% in the last year.

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Bonmarche

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.