Tate & Lyle PLC Trading Statement
The Group continued to perform strongly in the third quarter with profit in constant currency ahead of the comparative period in both divisions. Speciality Food Ingredients performed in line with expectations while in Bulk Ingredients profit was ahead of our expectations.
Tate & Lyle issues the following trading statement for the three months ended 31 December 2016.
The Group continued to perform strongly in the third quarter with profit in constant currency ahead of the comparative period in both divisions. Speciality Food Ingredients performed in line with expectations while in Bulk Ingredients profit was ahead of our expectations.
In Speciality Food Ingredients, excluding Food Systems and SPLENDA® Sucralose, profit was ahead of the comparative period benefiting from good commercial execution and strong manufacturing performance. Underlying volume was broadly in line with the comparative period. As in the first half, demand in North America continued to be soft with volume lower, whilst in Europe, Middle East and Africa underlying volume growth was robust. Strong volume growth in Latin America largely offset weaker demand in Asia Pacific. Food Systems profit continued to be held back by lower volume and SPLENDA® Sucralose profit was ahead of the comparative period benefiting from the consolidation of production to a single facility.
In Bulk Ingredients, North American sweetener volume remained robust. The calendar 2017 bulk sweetener pricing round is now substantially complete and is expected to deliver modest margin gains in the fourth quarter. Commodities performance was satisfactory and somewhat ahead of our expectations.
Encouraged by performance in the quarter, we now expect the Group’s performance in constant currency for the full year to be modestly ahead of our expectations at the time of our Half Year Results in November 2016.