UK 23:03 Saturday, 24 October 2026
Breaking news and expert analysis on fast-moving AIM and LSE listed shares
Shares in PureCircle (PURE) remain suspended as it struggles to publish its June 30 2019 accounts. But we are already warned that there will be restatements of 2018 and possibly 2017. But these restatements, which relate to the carrying value of inventory, were repeatedly predicted by ourselves for many years as you can see HERE. My good friends and keen admirers of my work, The Financial Reporting Council must launch an urgent and full investigation. I have written to the FRC today as you can see below.
We have been warning that Purecircle (PURE), a company once valued at a billion dollars was a disaster waiting to happen for more than six years. The shares were already suspended over the inventory fraud, now other “matters of concern” have emerged and the CEO is stepping aside pro tem. This company is almost certainly toast. City adbisors named below should hang their heads in shame and return fees, directors should go to jail.
Back in March, I suggested that PWC might like to brush up on the definition of a “Current Asset” with regard to the huge levels of inventory carried by PureCircle (PURE) relative to its annual sales...
Bears often pigeonhole duff companies as frauds, fads or failures as if they belong in one or other of these distinct categories. The truth is that quite often a fad resorts to fraud when it realises that it is a failure. The most obvious example of this right now is Tesla. But there are others.
Purecircle (PURE), the jam-tomorrow sugar substitute shambles about which I have written in the past is a difficult stock to trade. The share price seems to do nothing for ages and then move violently for no obvious reason in a very short space of time. Late in August it lost 25% of its value, from 400p-300p, in three straight trading days. Since then it has rallied to 375p after publishing dire results for the year to June 2018.
One of my few vices in life is sugar. I have parlayed this into stock selection via a recommendation on Tate & Lyle (TATE), which I last wrote up HERE. The company held a capital markets day late last week and the one presentation slide that stood out was one which talked about 'sugar replacement is a key market opportunity globally'. Well of course it is. Gluttons like me want to both have our cake and eat it and one way to do this - without becoming significantly obese - is to focus on non conventional sugar options, a market which Tate & Lyle has been active in with its Sucralose product.
Purecircle (PURE), the purveyor of stevia products (plant based sugar substitutes) warned on January 5th that first half results for the six months to 31 Dec 2016 were likely to crash into a loss from last years $5 million profit.
