Sweeteners company PureCircle Ltd. (PURE.LN) Tuesday said spending on sales and marketing and investment in production facilities mean profit for its 2010 fiscal year will be lower than a year earlier.

The company added sales will be flat year-on-year. It ended a contract with a trading partner in favor of selling directly to food and beverage makers, the company said. The trading partner accounted for 60% of its sales in the 2009 fiscal year, PureCircle said.

Also Tuesday, PureCircle said it agreed to form a joint venture with Associated British Foods PLC's (ABF.LN) British Sugar Group unit to market a range of low calorie sweeteners worldwide.

Joint venture The Natural Sweetness Company will be owned equally by both parties and will develop and market a range of products to the food and drinks industry. The low calorie products will be a combination of sugar and PureCircle's sweeteners, which are derived from the stevia plant.

In February, PureCircle, whose customers include Unilever NV (UNA.AE) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), said it formed a joint venture with Imperial Sugar Co. (IPSU) to create a new range of sweeteners.

-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; jason.douglas@dowjones.com
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