LEVIS10 Oct 2012 13:23
Quick facts on PURE:-
1. Manufacturer of sweeteners based on the stevia plant, a sunflower relative.
2. The group has highlighted a booming market for stevia-based sweeteners, with the number of new food and drinks products to contain the low-calorie product i.e. recently signed deal with Coca Cola.
3. Carbonated drinks are a particularly popular market, with stevia sweeteners adopted by products including Sprite in France and Fanta in China so far this year.
4. Group's own sales in the year to the end of June increased by a relatively-modest 26%, growth PureCircle termed "sub-scale" and which "did not reflect the strong growth in end market usage of high purity stevia".
"This is principally due to the continued impact of inventory" built up at major customers in previous years.
And by revenue, sales fell 14.7% to $45.4m for the year, reflecting a change in sales procedures from the historic "take or pay" system.
5. Paul Selway-Swift, the PureCircle chairman, said that "the year has been a year of considerable progress in the development of the high purity stevia industry and in the establishment of PureCircle… although clearly that progress is not yet evident in our reported financial results. "We remain confident of the future of our high purity stevia business but continue our guidance that this should be seen as a mid-to-long term opportunity."
6. The group raised £20m ($31m) in August from a placement of shares with Hong Kong-based investment company Wang Tak, added the company now feels "sufficiently funded for its current expansion plans".
7. PureCircle said its net debt, as of the end of June, "has remained constant since December 2010 [at] $77m reflecting the group being operating cash-flow neutral across the period, despite the relatively low sales volumes and the temporary production slowdown".
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