TIDMPURE
RNS Number : 5971Z
PureCircle Limited
21 September 2015
PURECIRCLE LIMITED
("PureCircle" or "the Company")
FY15 RESULTS AND INTENTION TO LIST ON THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
MAIN MARKET
PureCircle (www.purecircle.com) the world's leading producer and
marketer of high purity stevia ingredients announces its audited
results for the financial year to 30 June 2015 (FY15) together with
audited comparatives for the year ended 30 June 2014 (FY14).
In addition the Company announces its intention to secure a
Premium Listing on the London Stock Exchange Main Market.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR
Financial Highlights
The audited results for the year to 30 June 2015 comprising the
Group's consolidated statement of comprehensive income, statement
of financial position and statement of cash flows are set out in
Appendix 1 in pages 12 to 16. The Group's full Annual Report and
accounts will be posted to shareholders in November 2015. A summary
of the financials for FY15 with FY14 comparatives is set out
below.
Summary financials
FY15 FY14 %
Financial year ended USD' m USD' m + / (-)
30 June
Sales 127.4 101.0 26%
Gross margin* 39.4 36.6 8%
Operating margin* 16.1 17.2 (6%)
EBITDA* 23.1 22.5 2%
Net profit after
tax 4.1 2.3 78%
Earnings per share
(US cents) 2.48 1.41 76%
Fully diluted earnings
per share 2.42 1.37 77%
Operating cash flow
before working capital
changes 23.9 22.7 5%
Working capital changes (10.1) (7.2) (40%)
Net debt (45.3) (79.9) 43%
Net assets 190.5 147.5 29%
*Gross margin, operating profit and EBITDA are as per management
segmental reporting in the Group Financial Review note set out
below. The full consolidated statement of income is set out in
Appendix 1 of this results announcement
Sales: FY15 sales increased US$26.4m (26%) to US$127.4m.
In FY15, sales volume increased 33%; there has been growth in
sales across all geographic regions driven by accelerating market
adoption of stevia, enabled by our Stevia 3.0 TM range of
proprietary ingredients and customizable ingredient combinations.
Growth was fastest from those ingredients in our portfolio launched
within the last four years.
FY15 sales were adversely impacted by the weakening of certain
sales' currencies (eg Mexican Peso, Euro) relative to the US$. On a
constant FY14 US$ exchange rate basis, FY15 sales would have
increased 31% to US$ 132 million.
Gross margin: In FY15 gross margin increased US$3m to US$39.4m
(FY14 US$36.6m), reflecting increased sales revenues, partly offset
by lower gross margin %.
The FY15 gross margin percentage of 31% was 5 percentage points
lower than in FY14 reflecting US$3m adverse foreign exchange
movements and a US$10m impact of higher leaf cost in China. The
company is actively addressing this with increased investments in
South America and Africa leaf development to better balance its
future leaf supply.
Operating margin: FY15 Operating margin of US$16.1m was US$1.1m
lower than FY14 reflecting US$3m higher gross margin described
above, offset by US$4m increased SG&A costs. These reflected
additional investment in the Group's global customer service
infrastructure and Operating management, particularly the new COO
and Operating Committee structure. Both investments have been made
to support expected future sales growth.
EBITDA: FY15 EBITDA was US$23.1m (FY14 US$22.5m) reflecting
US$1m lower operating profit offset by improved joint venture
profitability and realised foreign exchange gains. Within EBITDA,
in FY15 the Group's share of JV results moved to a US$0.1m profit
(FY14 loss US$0.5m) reflecting strong sales growth in the EU
region.
Net profit after tax: The Group recorded a US$4.1m net profit in
FY15, a US$1.8m (78%) improvement on FY14.
Operating cashflow before working capital: operating cashflow
before working capital was US$23m (FY14 US$22m), in line with
EBITDA.
Working capital movement: In FY15 working capital increased
US$10.1m (FY14 US$7.2m) reflecting US$30m higher receivables partly
offset by US$24m lower inventories. Higher receivables reflected
later phasing of sales in FY15 than in FY14.
Share Placement: In November 2014 the Group raised US$43.5m
through the issue of five million new ordinary shares at GBP 5.50
per share to fund expansion of its production capacity
Net debt and funding headroom: The Group ended FY15 with net
debt of US$45m (FY14 US$80m) and cash and facility headroom of
US$88m (FY14 US$60m). The lower net debt reflects US$43.5m November
2014 placement proceeds, US$6.4m operating cashflow after working
capital and interest and US$11m capital expenditure.
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
FY15 has again seen strong evidence of stevia becoming
established as a sustainable mainstream ingredient of choice for
the world's leading Food and Beverage brands. The heightened
pressures to moderate calorific content in F&B products and the
truly global range of categories and regions using stevia suggest
adoption will continue to grow.
At a Company level our proprietary innovation continues to
unlock additional markets which underpins future sustainable sales
growth. We remain confident about the long term future of the high
purity stevia market and of the opportunity for PureCircle to play
the leading role in it.
Sustainable mainstream usage of PureCircle stevia will lead to
increased sales which, when realised, will drive future
profitability.
In anticipation of future sales growth, in FY15 we started
expansion of our production capacity which is expected to come on
stream in FY17.
We announce today our Intention to apply for a listing of the
Company's ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") on the premium
segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to
trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's main market for listed
securities (the 'Main Market'). With increased evidence in our
markets of the large long term potential for stevia, the Directors
believe that, after seven successful years on the AIM market of the
London Stock Exchange plc ("AIM"), the Group has now reached a size
and stage of maturity at which the Main Market will provide a more
appropriate platform for the next phases in the Group's long term
growth plans. The Directors believe that the proposed move to the
Main Market will further raise the Group's investor profile and
provide PureCircle with access to a broader spectrum of investors
leading to improved liquidity in its Ordinary Shares.
Such a move to the Main Market will be through an introduction
of the Company's existing Ordinary Shares. The Company will not be
issuing new Ordinary Shares in conjunction with the proposed move
to the Main Market, and has no current intention to raise capital
through the issue of new shares.
Pursuant to Rule 41 of the AIM Rules for Companies, the Company
hereby gives notice of the intended cancellation of trading of its
Ordinary Shares on AIM. It is expected that the cancellation of
trading in the Ordinary Shares on AIM will take place at the same
time as the Ordinary Shares are admitted to the Official List and
begin trading on the Main Market, which is expected to occur in Q4
CY 2015 but no earlier than 26 October 2015, subject to the receipt
of the necessary approvals from the UK Listing Authority and the
London Stock Exchange plc.
We also announce today that on 30 September 2016 William
Mitchell, the Company's CFO, will be stepping down from the Board
and retiring from the business. Since his appointment in 2008
William has played an important role in the Company's development
through to the proposed Main Market listing. We thank him for his
contribution and wish him well in his future ventures. We are
delighted that William will be with us for up to twelve months to
ensure an orderly handover and smooth transition to his successor,
and the Company will update the market in due course.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW
Overview
Health and regulatory pressures to moderate calorific intakes
continue to increase with high profile media discussion on the
issues of obesity and diabetes becoming more widespread.
Market adoption of high purity stevia as part of the solution to
moderate calories and address obesity continues to grow across all
Food and Beverage ("F&B") categories and all regions of the
world, enabled by our range of proprietary ingredients and
customisable ingredient combinations.
At a product level Mintel has reported that in CY2014 there were
more than 6,500 products launched using stevia, an increase of more
than 1,500 compared to CY2013 and with more than 4,500 (70%)
launched within the last two years (2013 and 2014). Further the
profile of brands and categories adopting stevia continues to
increase such that stevia usage is becoming ever more mainstream.
For example the last twelve months has witnessed launches of dairy
products, baked beans and ketchups to name but a few new
categories, as well as continued roll-outs in the important
Carbonated Soft Drink category.
PureCircle continues to lead the growth of this market
underpinned by our continued product innovation and application
support. We now have 17 products in market and recent launches such
as our Sigma D and Sigma T products again confirm that our
innovation can assist customers unlock new segments. We have
significant future innovation in the pipeline.
PureCircle's business model is designed to service mass volumes
and our current project pipeline gives us confidence that future
sales growth at rates similar to those seen in FY15 is
sustainable.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2015 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
Market
The macro trends continue to develop favourably towards stevia
with more F&B producers and consumers seeking natural solutions
to help moderate calories. On a global basis 600 million people are
currently deemed to be obese (up 50% since 2005) whilst it is
estimated that nearly 600 million will suffer from diabetes by 2035
(up from 400 million in 2013). The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)
have recently issued a discussion paper (Overcoming Obesity: An
Initial economic analysis) highlighting Obesity as one of the top
three social burdens generated by human beings with an estimated
annual global economic impact of roughly US$2 trillion or
equivalent to 2.8% of global GDP.
FY15 has witnessed further regulatory and increased media
pressures on F&B producers to reduce the calorific content of
their products.
In addition consumers continue to seek natural sustainable
sources for their sweetness as opposed to using artificial low
calorie sweeteners, such as aspartame.
We believe these trends will only get stronger in the coming
years.
In FY15 the stevia market continued to grow. Mintel data shows
that there are now more than 6,500 products in market using stevia.
Further this data, which counts products on a SKU basis, probably
understates the true growth in usage as it does not take account of
the larger size of categories and brands now adopting, nor does it
capture products using stevia as a flavour enhancer. Within this
overall growth, the FY15 developments in the important Carbonated
Soft Drinks category again warrant specific note.
Carbonated Soft Drinks ("CSDs")
CSD is the largest single F&B category user of sweeteners.
FY15 has again seen important developments in CSD adoption of
stevia. Our internal estimates indicate that by June 2015 stevia
was being used in 86 Cola CSD products across 27 countries (up from
4 products in 3 countries in 2010) and in 25 Lemon Lime CSD
products across 16 countries (up from 1 product in 1 country in
2010). Further adoption is clearly being led by the world's largest
CSD brands.
In FY15 Coca-Cola Life has been rolled out into a series of
major markets including USA, Mexico, Germany, Japan and the UK,
with the green Life branding established as a core part of
marketing across Europe. Reformulations of Fanta and Sprite using
Stevia to reduce calories, are now in market in Europe, Latin
America and Asia.
Pepsi continue to roll-out Pepsi True and Pepsi Next with FY15
launches including USA, Canada and Australia while a core CSD brand
in the USA, Sierra Mist, was reformulated using stevia to reduce
calories.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group has expanded the number of US markets
where its range of Natural Carbonated Soft Drinks is sold and has
started using stevia in some of its core brands in Mexico.
Other F&B category adoptions
As with CSDs, market adoption of stevia in other F&B
categories continues to grow strongly. Taking as examples Ready To
Drink (RTD) teas and yogurts as a couple of important non CSD
categories, our internal estimates indicate that at 30 June 2015
there were 392 RTD tea products across 43 countries using stevia
(up from 19 products in 4 countries in 2010) and 420 yogurt
products across 32 countries (up from 19 products across 3
countries in 2010).
Our project pipeline indicates that substantial future
penetration of these categories is anticipated.
PureCircle product portfolio
In FY15 the Group further extended the breadth of its product
portfolio and then in July 2015 launched Sigma D and Sigma T, the
first products in our PureCircle Matrix Solutions range designed to
deliver category specific enhanced formulation attributes. With
these launches the Group now has 17 products in market,
substantially all of them proprietary to PureCircle.
Additionally in FY15 the Group has started to add complementary
natural ingredients to its portfolio to better meet wider
formulation requirements around stevia (for example natural bulking
agents), but always building on the core benefits stevia brings to
our F&B customers.
Application formulation and technical support
The Group has in-market application laboratories in North
America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, with FY15 benefitting from
the first full year activity in our Mexico and Malaysia
laboratories. Our application laboratories and technical support
are accelerating adoption of stevia in a number of different ways.
They unlock specific customer project formulation needs, hence
bringing our clients' F&B products to market quicker; they
highlight areas where further PureCircle innovation will be
successful in unlocking future adoption, as evidenced by the
successful development of our new Sigma Matrix Solutions launched
in July 2015; and they help us add in the optimum complementary
natural ingredients to better meet wider formulation
requirements.
Our application laboratory approach to market has represented a
significant investment for the Group over the past few years, but
there is no doubt that it is growing the market and helping secure
a large proportion of that growth for PureCircle. Our application
project pipeline suggests that this trend will continue.
Marketing and Stevia advocacy
PureCircle's Everything Stevia marketing strategy is to offer
our customers a unique combination of consumer insights, stevia
advocacy support to complement our practical in-region application
formulation support and ongoing unparalleled innovation.
The PureCircle Consumer Insights Group continued to strengthen
its global expertise with industry-leading market and consumer
research on the sweeteners category and again expanded our
proprietary database of research to include new markets.
The Global Stevia Institute ("GSI")
(www.globalsteviainstitute.com), already recognised as the leader
in stevia advocacy, was strengthened with additional Advisory Board
members. Customer collaboration with the GSI increased again with
launch support events again increasing year on year. Traffic on the
GSI website trebled during FY15 and it was ranked number one SEO in
all key markets.
Sustainability
PureCircle believes that core to consumers' growing preference
for natural ingredients in their F&B products of choice is
sustainability. We seek to provide a positive net benefit to the
people and communities in which we operate; we seek to minimise our
impact on the environment throughout the supply chain; and our
development of a mass volume natural ingredient business is
providing consumers with better access to reduced calorie F&B
options.
Additionally the Group has now engaged in the implementation of
the Grower Management Module within our Oracle JD Edwards systems
which will provide enhanced "leaf traceability to the farm", among
other key sustainable agricultural capabilities.
PureCircle was the first stevia company to set sustainability
goals and in FY15 the first to follow these up with an in depth
sustainability report. The Group believes that the Group's
sustainability focus is being recognised by customers as part of
the deeper solution service that the Group offers them with
material and support from the Group's sustainability programme
being used by F&B customers in support of their own stevia
related product launches.
R&D
We further strengthened our position as the stevia industry
innovation leader in FY15. Having successfully sequenced the entire
stevia genome in 2014, the PureCircle Leaf Scientists are
accelerating the development of naturally sourced, superior-tasting
stevia leaf extracts through PureCircle's traditional plant
breeding program.
In addition our dedicated Global Innovation Group is currently
evaluating over 140 new innovation items. Whilst not all will be
commercially viable, our experience indicates that a number of them
will incrementally add distinct technical advantages and customer
application benefits to our portfolio of offerings. We are also
expanding our pipeline of innovation projects to include more
fundamental glycoside research and focused research against still
largely untapped segments of the global food and beverage market
such as flavour enhancement and geographic specific
opportunities.
In FY15 we have expanded our research into complementary natural
ingredients that can support F&B formulations based on
stevia.
Joint Ventures
Sales and sales pipelines of the Group's joint ventures grew
strongly in FY15, reflecting significant progress in the important
EU market. As a consequence the Group's net share of income moved
to profit. With the joint ventures now having secured market
leadership position in their respective regional markets, we are
restructuring the joint ventures to reduce administrative
complexity. While each partner will continue to be the Group's
route to market for all of Continental Europe Regional Key
Accounts, the Group will service directly the Global Key Accounts.
We have established deep relationships with both our joint venture
partners and we will continue to provide supply and stevia knowhow.
The new structure will deliver the same in market presence and
leadership at a lower operating cost.
Supply Chain & Production Capacity
In FY15 our supply chain produced and distributed record volumes
of a larger range of finished products to more customer locations
than ever before, in the process increasing our capacity
utilization. This provides further confirmation of the scalable
nature of the Group's business model.
In FY15, in anticipation of future sales growth we started
expansion of our production capacity. This is expected to come on
stream in FY17 and will enable the Group to support sales volumes
equivalent to annual revenues of US$400-500m. The capacity
expansion is expected to cost US$42m which is fully funded from the
proceeds of the November 2014 equity placement.
Leaf supply
In FY15 demand for stevia leaf in China tightened relative to
supply leading to higher prices which we estimate impacted FY15
earnings by US$10m on a like for like basis versus FY14.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2015 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
The price increase was unexpected after ten years of relative
stability. Early indications are that the 2015 harvest will be
substantially larger than that of 2014 and that leaf prices are
moderating.
Within China we continue to diversify and expand leaf
cultivation and supply into new regions in Southern China closer to
our manufacturing base and with far more controllable plantations.
In the 2015 season we shall be sourcing from 8 different provinces
in China, up from just 3 a few years ago.
The Group continues to invest in building large scale commercial
supply of leaf outside China. In FY15 we have made progress
securing trials and early stage production with large farming
partners who have the ambition and resources to build volume supply
across a wide range of countries. The Group has signed supply
agreements with partners growing stevia for PureCircle in Ecuador,
Mexico, India, Romania, Turkey, Paraguay, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia,
Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and the Central Africa Republic.
Additionally we have improved agricultural practices and reinforced
management at our two agriculture subsidiaries in Kenya and
Paraguay.
The size of the agricultural land and resources currently being
developed outside China, has the potential to scale rapidly in the
next 3 to 5 years to 50% of our anticipated total leaf supply
needs.
Organisation
We have again further strengthened our Board and senior
management team. In July 2015 Guy Wollaert and Mitch Adamek joined
the Board as Non-Executive Directors, each bringing with them
considerable experience and insights into our markets.
FY15 was the first year of our new operating committee structure
led by Chief Operating Officer, Jordi Ferre. This has brought
deeper shared understanding of our business which in turn is
enhancing decision making as we grow. We have supported the
management structure with investment in information systems. During
FY15 we implemented the first phases of Oracle's JD Edwards ERP
system, which is enabling faster analytic support for
management.
The Group will continue to invest in management to support
growth effectively in a sustained manner.
Commenting on the FY15 audited results, the Chairman Paul
Selway-Swift said:
Mainstream market adoption of stevia continues to develop as
consumers and F&B producers seek great tasting sustainable
natural solutions to help moderate calories in their product
consumption.
Our strategy of introducing new customizable ingredient
combinations to meet growing market needs continues to win business
for PureCircle. We are generating revenues from a well-balanced
range of natural sweetener and flavour products and from a wide
range of customers and regions directly and through our business
partners.
We remain confident in the future growth of the PureCircle
Stevia 3.0 TM enabled market and that it will generate sustained
sales growth for our business. We have therefore started to expand
our production capacity to come on stream in FY17. And today we
announce our intention to seek admission to the Premium Listing of
the London Stock Exchange Main Market
Enquiries:
PureCircle Limited (www.purecircle.com)
Magomet Malsagov, CEO +603 2166 2066
William Mitchell, CFO +44 7974 005 163
RFC Ambrian Ltd (NOMAD) +61 8 9480 2500
Stephen Allen
NOTES TO EDITORS
PureCircle is the global leader in production and marketing
of 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(R),
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.
GROUP FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Group's FY15 financial year covers the year from 1 July 2014
to 30 June 2015. FY14 comparatives are for the year from 1 July
2013 to 30 June 2014.
Set out below is an extract from the audited FY15 financial
statements. The full consolidated statement of comprehensive
income, statement of financial position and statement of cash flows
follow in pages 12 to 16.
FY15 FY14 %
USD'000 USD'000 + / (-)
Trading
Revenue 127,349 101,045 26%
Cost of sales (87,951) (64,403) (37%)
--------- --------- --------
Gross margin 39,398 36,642 8%
--------- --------- --------
Gross margin % 31% 36%
Other income 760 434 75%
Administrative expenses (24,024) (19,860) (21%)
--------- --------- --------
Operating margin 16,134 17,216 (6%)
Other expenses (7,117) (6,140) (16%)
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain (757) 1,265 (160%)
Finance costs (7,275) (9,253) 21%
Share of profit /(loss) of joint
ventures* 63 (503) 113%
Taxation 3,043 (265) 1,248%
--------- --------- --------
Profit for the financial year 4,091 2,320 76%
--------- --------- --------
Earnings Per Share US$ cents per
share 2.48 1.41 76%
Fully diluted Earnings Per Share
US$ cents per share 2.42 1.37 77%
Operating cash flow before working
capital changes 23,909 22,677 5%
Working capital changes (10,141) (7,208) (41%)
--------- --------- --------
Operating cash flow after working
capital changes 13,768 15,469 (11%)
--------- --------- --------
Net debt and funding headroom
Gross debt 109,646 125,850 13%
Gross cash (64,276) (45,865) 40%
--------- --------- --------
Net debt 45,370 79,985 43%
--------- --------- --------
Financing and funding headroom 88,000 60,000 60%
EBITDA** 23,108 22,454 3%
*Share of profit / (loss) in joint ventures includes group
margin on sales by Joint Ventures to external parties.
** EBITDA is defined as EBITDA with other expenses added
back.
Segmental reporting: The Group operates as a single operating
segment comprising of the integrated production and marketing of
PureCircle Stevia 3.0 TM products.
Sales: FY15 sales increased $26.4m (26%) to $127.4m.
FY15 sales have been adversely impacted by the weakening of
certain sales' currencies (eg Mexican Peso, Euro) relative to the
US$. On a constant FY2014 US$ exchange rate basis, FY15 sales would
have increased 31% to US$ 132 million.
In FY15, sales volume increased 33%; there has been growth in
sales across all geographic regions driven by accelerating market
adoption of stevia, enabled by our Stevia 3.0 TM 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.
Gross margin: In FY15, the gross margin was $39.4m (FY14
$36.6m), reflecting increased sales revenues, partly offset by
lower gross margin %.
The FY15 gross margin percentage of 31% was 5 percentage points
lower than in FY14 reflecting the impact of higher leaf cost in
China and adverse foreign exchange movements. There has been a
tightening of leaf supply in China which had a $10m impact on our
FY15 margins. The company is actively addressing this with
increased investments in South America and Africa leaf development
to better balance its future leaf supply.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2015 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
In addition our FY15 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.
Operating margin: FY15 Operating profit of US$16.1m was $1.1m
lower than FY14 reflecting $3m higher gross margin described above,
offset by $4m increased SG&A costs. These reflected additional
investment in the Group's global customer service infrastructure
and the additional investment in management, particularly the new
COO and Operating Committee structure. Both investments have been
made to support expected sales growth.
Other expenses: FY15 other expenses principally comprise non
cash costs of the Group's LTIP scheme and similar discretionary
remuneration.
Share of profit / (loss) of Joint Ventures: In FY15 the Group's
share of JV results moved to profit, reflecting strong sales growth
in the EU market. The JV share of results include reflect the
Group's full gross margin realised on sales by the JVs to third
parties and increased investment in in-market application support
made during the year.
With the EU market now growing well and with strong
relationships established with our JV partners, the Group is
restructuring its EU operations so that going forward PCL will sell
directly to Global Key Account customers in the region and each of
our partners will sell PCL sourced stevia to the Regional Key
Accounts. This will enable us to better service the market with
less administrative complexity and lower cost base.
Finance costs: In FY15 finance costs were $7.2m (FY14 $9.2m). In
FY15 the Group restructured two of its banking facilities covering
a total of US$100m of debt onto new terms at an average of 3% lower
interest rates. The Group's principal US$62m Malaysia based debt
facility was extended through to September 2019.
Taxation: $3.0m credit (FY14 $0.3m charge). With improved
profitability, in FY15 the Group has recognized deferred tax
assets
Net profit after tax: The Group recorded a $4.1m net profit in
FY15, a $1.8m (78%) improvement on FY14.
Share Placement: In November 2014 the Group raised $43.5m
through the issue of five million new ordinary shares at GBP 5.50
per share to fund expansion of its production capacity
Financing and funding headroom: The Group ended FY15 with cash
and facility headroom of $88m (FY14 $60m) and net debt of $45m
(FY14 $80m). The lower net debt reflects $43.5m November 2014
placement proceeds, $6.4m operating cashflow before capital
expenditure, partly offset by capital expenditure of $11m.
Appendix 1 - AUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE
INCOME, STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AND STATEMENT OF
CASHFLOWS
AUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
2015 2014
USD'000 USD'000
Revenue 127,349 101,045
Cost of sales (87,016) (63,570)
----------------- -------------------
Gross profit 40,333 37,475
Administrative expenses (30,643) (24,461)
Other income 703 1,426
Other expenses (1,255) (1,539)
Finance income 57 273
Finance costs (7,275) (9,253)
Share of loss in joint ventures (872) (1,336)
----------------- -------------------
Profit before taxation 1,048 2,585
Income tax 3,043 (265)
----------------- -------------------
Profit for the financial year 4,091 2,320
Other comprehensive income
(net of tax)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently
to
profit or loss:
Exchange differences arising on
translation of foreign operations (11,717) (514)
Share of other comprehensive (loss)/income
of Joint Ventures (101) 5
----------------- -------------------
Total comprehensive (loss)/income for
the
financial year (net of tax) (7,727) 1,811
================= ===================
Profit for the financial year
Attributable to:
Owners of the company 4,158 2,316
Non-controlling interest (67) 4
----------------- -------------------
4,091 2,320
================= ===================
Total comprehensive (loss)/income
Attributable to:
Owners of the company (7,662) 1,804
Non-controlling interest (65) 7
----------------- -------------------
(7,727) 1,811
================= ===================
Profit per share (US cents)
- Basic 2.48 1.41
- Diluted 2.42 1.37
AUDITED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
2015 2014
USD'000 USD'000
ASSETS
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Investment in joint ventures - 149
Intangible assets 37,790 38,023
Property, plant and equipment 59,724 63,715
Biological assets 3,570 4,237
Prepaid land lease payments 2,914 2,999
Deferred tax assets 8,900 5,876
Trade receivables 1,856 1,950
Other receivables, deposits
and prepayments 2,121 553
---------------- ----------------
116,875 117,502
CURRENT ASSETS
Inventories 62,790 86,519
Trade receivables 62,530 37,362
Other receivables, deposits
and prepayments 7,490 4,962
Tax recoverable 347 581
Cash and cash equivalents 59,181 38,014
Restricted cash 5,095 7,851
197,433 175,289
TOTAL ASSETS 314,308 292,791
================ ================
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
EQUITY
Share capital 17,006 16,472
Share premium 208,310 163,240
Foreign exchange translation
reserve (10,990) 920
Share option reserve 11,185 5,076
Accumulated losses (35,019) (38,203)
---------------- ----------------
EQUITY ATTRIBUTABLE TO
OWNERS OF THE COMPANY 190,492 147,505
NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST - 722
---------------- ----------------
TOTAL EQUITY 190,492 148,227
================ ================
AUDITED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (CONT'D)
2015 2014
USD'000 USD'000
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term borrowings 83,965 2,169
Deferred income 290 360
Other payables and accruals 200 2,111
-------- --------
84,455 4,640
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Trade payables 3,134 5,879
Other payables and accruals 10,546 10,364
Short-term borrowings 25,681 123,681
-------- --------
39,361 139,924
-------- --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES 123,816 144,564
-------- --------
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 314,308 292,791
======== ========
NET ASSETS PER SHARE
(USD) 1.12 0.90
======== ========
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