Profits sweeten at Tate & Lyle

Sugar producer Tate & Lyle today said its year had started sweetly as it posted a 9.2% rise in half-year profits to £130m (€186.9m).

The London-based group said trading in all but one of its major businesses was ahead of last year, with a particularly good performance from its Splenda Sucralose product.

Results at its European cereal sweetener and speciality starch business Amylum were lower, but still exceeded expectations due to lower cereal prices, it said.

The group said higher energy costs and the outcome of pricing talks at Amylum and its US counterpart business Staley in the second half would influence its overall results for the year.

It added that the need to rebuild stocks of Splenda would have some short-term adverse impact on the product’s profitability, although the second half was expected to benefit from its growth.

Chairman David Lees said: “Nevertheless, we expect the results of the group for the year as a whole to reflect satisfactory progress.”