Imperial Sugar's volatile shares took a downward lurch – by 19% - after the sweeteners group dashed investors' hopes of it reporting its first quarter in profit for nearly two years.

Imperial, which has been dogged by production losses, lawsuits and regulatory battles since a factory explosion last year, unveiled an after-tax loss of $188,000, equivalent to $0.02 a share, for the July-to-September period.

While the closest the group has come to profit since last February's blast, in which 14 workers died and a further 36 were injured, the figure fell below analysts' estimates of earnings of $0.14.

Imperial's revenues of $147.3m also missed Wall Street forecasts, by nearly $15m.

Shares in the group plunged to $14.79 before recovering some ground to close at $15.00, down 17.8% on the day.

Imperial has not booked a profit since the October-to-December quarter in 2007.

'State of the art'

The quarterly loss would have been worse were it not for a pre-tax gain of $27.9m relating to gains on a hedge against rising sugar prices which was booked early thanks to uncertainties caused by the plant explosion, at Port Wentworth in Georgia, US.

"Raw sugar costs reported in 2010 will be higher as a result of this accounting treatment," Imperial said.

However, John Sheptor, the group's chief executive, said that the rebuilding of Port Wentworth to cutting edge specifications, and the start of a new refinery in a joint project with Cargill and Lousiana Sugar Growers and Refiners, "pave the way for a bright future".

"Imperial will own or participate in two of the most state-of-the-art sugar refineries in the US," he said.