PureCircle rolls into the red

Sweetener maker PureCircle fell deep into the red during the first half as sales were slashed by the timing of off take volumes for one of its material global contracts.The firm lost $7.5m in the six months ended 31 December compared with a profit of $2.3m a year earlier. Revenue plunged from $37.5m to $13.6m as sales of Stevia and Stevia extract both fell $12m.PureCircle's current sales pipeline indicates revenue for the 12 months to 30 June will be between $50m and $60m. That's less than the $70m being forecast by Westhouse Securities."With major markets like Europe and India not opening until late calendar 2011, we do not expect to see the true velocity of sales on a global basis to be evident fully before calendar 2012 and 2013," the company warned."As such, we continue to anticipate a high degree of sales volatility over the next two years."Shares in the group are trading at their lowest since the end of 2008, undoing all the good done since recovering from July's profits warning and September's disappointing full-year results.