If you’d invested in: Softcat and Drax Group

If only...

Softcat (LSE: SCT) provides IT infrastructure services to companies and the public sector. Its shares spiked in October as it announced that sales were up by 24% to £832.5m in its first full year as a listed company.

The results were boosted by growth in public-sector IT contracts, which now represent 31% of its total income. It also reported strong growth in its security business, as firms strengthen their cyber defences and prepare for new data protection regulations.

Be glad you didn't

Drax Group (LSE: DRX) generates and supplies electricity. In July, Drax, which owns the UK's largest power station, reported a pre-tax loss of £83m in the first half (compared with a profit of £184m during the same period a year ago) as the value of coal assets fell. Drax is trying to diversify its business, following news that the UK's last coal-power stations must close by 2025 to meet climate-change commitments.

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Alice grew up in Stockholm and studied at the University of the Arts London, where she gained a first-class BA in Journalism. She has written for several publications in Stockholm and London, and joined MoneyWeek in 2017.

Alice is now Consumer Editor at The Sun and covers everything from energy bills to Social Security.