PureCircle Limited Trading Statement (9404K)
January 06 2016 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMPURE
RNS Number : 9404K
PureCircle Limited
06 January 2016
PURECIRCLE LIMITED
TRADING UPDATE
PureCircle (LSE: PURE), the world's leading producer and
marketer of high purity stevia ingredients, today provides a
trading update in respect of the six month period from 1 July 2015
to 31 December 2015, being the first half of its Financial Year
2016 (1H FY16). The Company's interim results for 1H FY16 will be
announced on Monday 29 February 2016.
Sales
Sales in 1H FY16 are expected to be not less than US$54m, an
increase of 25% against 1H FY15 (US$43m).
There has been growth in sales across all global sales regions
and across all ingredients as our innovation continues to unlock
new Food and Beverage adoption of stevia and support continued
roll-outs of products already launched.
Margins, EBITDA and net result
The Group expects gross margin, EBITDA and net result all to
increase significantly compared to 1H FY15.
Group gross margin is expected to be not less than US$22m, an
increase of 52% against 1H FY15 (US$14m). The improvement in gross
margin principally reflects higher sales volumes, increasing
contributions from our expanding portfolio of innovative new
products and more stable leaf supply.
EBITDA is expected to be not less than US$13m, an increase of
US$7m (105%) against 1H FY15 (US$6m), reflecting the benefit of
higher sales volumes and improving margins.
Other expenses: In 1H the Group moved to the Main Market of the
London Stock Exchange and incurred costs of US$2m doing so, which
will be charged to profit in 1H FY16. In addition in 1H FY16 the
Group has incurred Long Term Incentive Plan and related costs of
US$4m (1H FY15 $3m).
Foreign exchange: In 1H the Malaysian Ringgit has devalued by
more than 20% against the US$ giving rise to a foreign exchange
gain of US$3m.
The Group's net result for 1H FY16 is expected to be a net
profit of approximately US$5m, an improvement of almost US$6m
against 1H FY15 (loss of US$0.9m). A net profit of US$5m would
represent Earnings Per Share of US$0.03 per share.
Cash, net debt and funding headroom
The Group ended 1H FY16 with net debt of US$ 46m (1H FY15
US$52m) and cash and facility headroom of US$73m (1H FY15 US$76m).
The Group is sufficiently funded for its current expansion
plans.
Commenting on the 1H FY16 trading update, the Group CEO Magomet
Malsagov said: 1H FY16 has seen continued market growth across all
Food and Beverage categories and all geographical regions enabled
by our stevia innovation. In July we launched Sigma D and Sigma T,
the first products in our Matrix Solutions range that provide
category specific taste solutions. Then in December we launched our
Zeta TM suite of ingredients that enable great tasting product
formulations with deeper calorie reductions.
In November India finally approved the use of stevia which opens
up the market to a further 1.3 billion consumers.
Latest Mintel data shows there are now more than 9,000 products
in market using stevia, more than 70% of which have been launched
within the last three years.
Global obesity continues to worsen with more than 600 million
people now predicted to be obese by 2035 (up 50% from 400 million
in 2013). Public debate and calls for regulatory action to address
the issue are increasing, particularly concerning added sugar. At
the same time, consumers are actively seeking natural sustainable
sources for their sweeteners, as opposed to using artificial low
calorie products.
These developments give further support to our long held
assessment that stevia has the potential to become a mass volume
mainstream ingredient in Food and Beverage products and for
PureCircle to continue to play a leadership role in the development
of that market. With continued sales growth we would expect further
improvements in profitability.
6 January 2016
Enquiries:
PureCircle Limited (www.purecircle.com)
Magomet Malsagov, CEO +603 2166 2066
William Mitchell, CFO +44 7974 005 163
NOTES TO EDITORS
PureCircle is the world's leading producer
of high-purity stevia ingredients for the
global food and beverage industry. Its mission
is to encourage healthier diets around the
world through the supply of natural ingredients
to the global food and beverage industry.
Its vision is to lead the global expansion
of stevia as the next mass volume, natural-origin
sweetener. PureCircle has offices around the
world with the global headquarters in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. The Business was founded
in 2002. PureCircle's shares are listed on
the main market of the London Stock Exchange
and trade under the ticker symbol PURE. For
more information, visit: www.purecircle.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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