Tate sours on Splenda blow

Tate & Lyle took a £500m (€763.5m) shares hit today after the company warned of a weaker-than-expected performance by its sugar substitute Splenda.

The London-based firm blamed disappointing sales volumes to the US carbonated soft drink sector, adding that the weakness contributed to its expectations that group profits would now be “modestly below” current market forecasts.

Shares tumbled 15%, sending the company’s market value to around £3bn (€4.6bn), down from more than £3.5bn (€5.3bn) at the start of trading.