Consumers looking for a healthier alternative to sugar often turn to stevia – a low-calorie and sugar-free sweetener derived from a plant – but are often left disappointed with the taste. PureCircle (PURE) believes its Starleaf product tastes closer to sugar than other stevia products, including those it has produced in the past. It's based on where in the leaf the molecules come from, and companies busy reformulating once-sugary products seem to agree. Chief executive Magomet Malsagov said PureCircle expects to produce around 16,000 metric tonnes (mt) of Starleaf during this financial year, more than three times the 5,000mt produced during this reported period.
PureCircle currently has 117 stevia related patents, another 295 pending, and has filed a complaint in California claiming two competitors infringed on one of its patents. Mr Malsagov says he doesn’t mind competition, but wants rivals "to respect [our] intellectual property". In the past, PureCircle has licensed out patents for use by other companies.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profits of $13.6m (£10.4m) during the year to June 2019, giving EPS of 6.7¢, compared with $8.3m and 5.5¢ in FY2018.
PURECIRCLE (PURE) | ||||
ORD PRICE: | 321p | MARKET VALUE: | £560m | |
TOUCH: | 320-321p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 517p | LOW: 293p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 84 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 130¢* | NET DEBT: | 43% |
Year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
2014 | 101 | 2.6 | 1.4 | nil |
2015 | 127 | 1.0 | 2.5 | nil |
2016 | 139 | 17.9 | 8.5 | nil |
2017 | 119 | 7.7 | 4.2 | nil |
2018 | 131 | 7.5 | 5.0 | nil |
% change | +10 | -2 | +20 | - |
Ex-div: | na | |||
Payment: | na | |||
*Includes $64.1m of intangible assets, or 37¢ a share £1=$1.31 |