24th May 2018 11:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tate & Lyle PLC said Thursday its annual profit increased despite a slight drop in sales.
For the financial year ended March, the agribusiness posted a pretax profit increase of 23% to GBP286 million from GBP233 million the year before. This is despite a 2% drop in sales to GBP2.71 billion from GBP2.75 billion.
Sales in its Food & Beverage business increased 2% to GBP850 million from GBP834 million the year before. In its Primary Products business, sales dropped 2% to GBP1.71 billion from GBP1.76 billion.
The FTSE 250-listed company is recommending a 2.5% increase in its final dividend to 20.3 pence per share from 19.8p. This marks a 2.5% increase in its full year dividend of 28.7p per share from 28.0p.
Looking ahead, Tate & Lyle said it expects growth in its earnings per share in constant currency to be at "the lower end" of a mid-single digit range for financial 2019. In the longer term, the company expects its earnings per share growth to accelerate as its three strategies "gather momentum".
Chief Executive Nick Hampton said: “Tate & Lyle delivered another year of progress, with good profit and cash delivery. Profit increased in all businesses, cash generation remained strong, and return on capital employed increased to 16.2%. The group remains in a strong financial position, increasingly well-positioned to address growing consumer demand for healthier diets with less sugar, calories and fat and more fibre.
"To accelerate business performance and inject more pace into the organisation, we are implementing three programmes to sharpen our focus on our customers, accelerate portfolio development and to simplify the business and deliver greater productivity."
Shares in Tate & Lyle were up 9.0% Thursday to 663.30 pence each.
Related Shares:
Tate & Lyle