A prolonged dispute with an American border agency took a lot of the sweetness out of stevia producer PureCircle 's (PURE) trading update. The company, a leading producer of the sugar substitute which can be found in various high-profile food and beverage products, had a shipment into the US delayed last year by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) due to the agency's concerns that it had been harvested using forced labour.
The company told the market these allegations were inaccurate and weeks later, on 29 June, the CBP released the shipment. But a trading update on 5 January for the six months to 31 December suggests the issue continued to weigh on the company. PureCircle said the cost of the CBP issue had hit margins and would mean the company suffering a net $2m (£1.6m) loss for the half compared with a $5m profit in the comparable half in the prior financial year. Chief executive Magomet Malsagov said the issue had been a "major distraction" and that while sales to the US - which make up a third of turnover - had been hit, growth elsewhere was strong.
