5th Nov 2015 09:14
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tate & Lyle PLC Thursday reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year after benefiting from the sale of an asset, but sales declined as its struggling Bulk Ingredients business offset growth in Specialty Ingredients.
Shares in Tate & Lyle were trading up 3.3% at 617.21 pence Thursday morning.
The sugar and sweeteners company said its pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 rose 11% to GBP70 million from GBP63 million, although revenue fell 2% to GBP1.17 billion from GBP1.20 billion. Pretax profit would have been up 1% at constant currencies, while revenue would have fallen 6%, Tate said.
It said that it made an exceptional profit of GBP9 million on the disposal of an investment in its venture fund portfolio worth GBP13 million. Revenue, however, was hit by a weak performance from its Bulk Ingredients business, which offset sales growth in Specialty Ingredients.
Tate & Lyle will pay an interim dividend of 8.2 pence, which is flat year-on-year.
"We have made an encouraging start to the year. Speciality Food Ingredients performed well as volume momentum built throughout the first half, as anticipated, and our new products targeted at the health and wellness space grew strongly. Bulk Ingredients performed steadily despite the impact of sharply lower ethanol margins. Overall, with our change programmes progressing as planned and executional disciplines strengthening across the business, we remain on track to deliver the guidance for the full year we set out in May, and for future growth," Chief Executive Javed Ahmed said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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