Tate & Lyle makes 'encouraging start', though trading mixed

28th Jul 2011 07:01

Tate & Lyle, the food ingredients group famous for its sugar, has hailed an "encouraging start" to the year, with strong demand seen in its main two divisions, Bulk Ingredients and Speciality Food Ingredients.However, the firm said that in the first quarter (from 1 April to 30 June) strong co-product returns were partially offset by the "impact of currency movements on the translation of profits".Nevertheless, overall volumes in the Speciality Food Ingredients division were higher than the previous, helped by strong demand for its corn-based sweeteners and SPLENDA Sucralose. The Food Systems unit, though, continued to experience tough trading conditions, particularly in Russia. These are expected to remain for the whole year.Within Bulk Ingredients, "firm" demand was seen for liquid sweeteners in both the Americas and in Europe. "In Europe, as anticipated, starch margins benefited from increased prices for industrial starches, although they were largely offset by sweetener margins which were lower because of higher raw material costs." More competition in the citric acid market also meant that these sales came in lower than expected.The group also warned that bulk sweetener volumes in the US are now expected to be below initial forecasts for the full year, as it is "starting to diversify some US grind from Bulk Ingredients to Speciality Food Ingredients.""Overall, our expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we continue to anticipate another year of profitable growth."BC