More than £500m (€762m) was wiped from the value of Tate & Lyle after the sugar and sweetener group delivered a surprise profits warning today.

Outsourcing group Capita surged to the top of the blue-chip risers board today after delighting UK investors with better-than-expected profits.

Plans by water supplier Severn Trent to spin off its Biffa waste management business kept the FTSE 100 Index above the 6000 mark today.

Water company Severn Trent starred today as the London market’s top riser after revealing plans to demerge its Biffa waste management business.

THE ISEQ index leveled off yesterday after the previous days rally with little in the way of corporate news to boost the market. The benchmark index closed down 4.95 points to 6781.07.

Poker group PartyGaming led the FTSE 100 Index into negative territory today as investors piled out of online gaming stocks.

Tate & Lyle warned today that EU proposals to cut guaranteed prices for sugar producers would wipe £85m (€128.3m) off its profits in 2009.

A further rise in the cost of oil helped the FTSE 100 Index hold on above the key 5000 barrier today.

Drugs companies and miners were weighing on the London market today as traders started the week on a negative note.

Tate & Lyle, Europe’s largest sugar-cane refiner, said its biggest shareholder, Compagnie Industrielle et Financiere des Produits Amylaces, sold its 10% stake for €315 million.