PURE.L Regulatory News (PURE)

PURECIRCLE LIMITED

("PureCircle" or the "Company")

PRECLOSE PERIOD UPDATE FY 2015

PureCircle (LSE: PURE) the world's largest producer and marketer of high purity stevia today provides a trading update in respect of its financial year to 30 June 2015 (FY2015). The Company's results for the full year FY2015 will be announced on Monday 21 September 2015.

Sales

Sales in the second half FY2015 (2H FY2015) are expected to be US$84 million giving not less than US$127 million for the full year FY2015, an increase of 26% against FY2014 sales of US$101 million.

FY2015 sales have been adversely impacted by the weakening of certain sales' currencies (eg Mexican Peso, Euro) relative to the US$. On a constant FY2014 US$ exchange rate basis, FY2015 sales would have increased 31% to US$ 132 million.

In FY2015 there has been growth in sales across all geographic regions driven by accelerating market adoption of stevia, enabled by our range of proprietary ingredients and customizable ingredient combinations. Mintel has reported 627 new products launched using stevia in the quarter to 31 March 2015, which represents a 28% increase over the number launched in the same quarter in 2014. PureCircle continues to lead the growth of this market and our project pipeline gives us confidence that future sales growth at these rates is sustainable.

Margins

As noted in our 16 March 2015 Interim results statement, there has been a tightening of leaf supply in China which will impact our FY2015 margins adversely. The company is actively addressing this with increased investments in South America and Africa leaf development to better balance its future leaf supply.

In addition our FY2015 gross margin has been reduced by foreign exchange. The US$5 million sales impact was only partly offset by weaker cost of sales currencies giving a net US$3 million adverse gross margin impact.

Despite this, we expect the FY2015 growth in sales volumes and revenues to result in gross margin 9%, EBITDA 16% and net profit 73% higher than FY2014 comparatives at US$40 million, US$25 million and US$4 million respectively.

Cashflow and net debt

The Group expects to end FY2015 with net debt of US$53 million (FY2014 US$80 million) and cash and funding headroom of US$82 million (FY2014 US$66million).

Commenting on the FY2015 trading update, PureCircle CEO Magomet Malsagov said:

In FY2015 the global stevia market has again grown with more than 6,500 products across all categories now launched using stevia ingredients, mainly enabled by PureCircle's innovative product portfolio. The size and range of products now in market and of customers using stevia as a core part of their ingredient mix gives us confidence in the increased future demand for PureCircle stevia ingredients. Accordingly in FY2015 we kicked off expansion in our production capacity, which is due to come on stream in FY2017.

Our company and the business are at a stage of evolution where critical mass and top-line growth is important. We are pleased that in FY 2015 the Company maintained momentum and delivered yet another year of strong sales growth and despite challenges firmly established our business in profitable territory. Our entire range of proprietary ingredients and customizable ingredient combinations contributed to that growth. With increased investments in leaf diversification we expect leaf costs to normalize over time. Further, this diversification will also help our foreign exchange exposures.

Stevia products are still in the roll-out phase in many important markets and until market consumption smooths out, growth will come with a lumpy sales profile and therefore some volatility: this adds some complexity to our ability to provide guidance in the short term. However we are confident of the Company's future prospects and of continued long term sales growth and profitability."

NOTES TO EDITORS

PureCircle is the global leader in production and marketing of high purity stevia ingredients. PureCircle leads the industry with development of a vertically integrated, sustainable and natural supply chain. Stevia is grown for PureCircle across South America, Africa, Asia and the United States where it provides a sustainable cash crop for farming communities. As part of the company's proprietary Stevia 3.0 TM portfolio, PureCircle has developed a broad range of ingredient solutions and has pioneered such ingredients as Reb A, SG95, and breakthrough ingredients such as PureCircle Alpha, Reb D, Reb M as well as PureCircle Flavors. PureCircle also established joint venture partnerships with sugar industry leaders to innovatively combine stevia and sugar for natural sweetening solutions and locally support customers. These global partnerships include Tereos PureCircle Solutions, with Tereos and NPSweet A/S with Nordzucker, in Europe. As part of its industry leadership, PureCircle pioneered the trust mark Stevia PureCircle®, which educates consumers about the benefits of stevia and provides a strong base of trust for both consumers and food and beverage companies alike. The company also founded The Global Stevia Institute, (www.globalsteviainstitute.com ) the leading resource for accurate, science-based information on stevia led by a global advisory board of internationally recognized health professionals. PureCircle's global headquarters are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. PureCircle is listed on the London Stock Exchange AiM market under the ticker symbol: PURE. For more information on PureCircle, visit: www.purecircle.com.