18th Dec 2006 07:00
18 December 2006 - Tate & Lyle PLC 2007 CALENDAR YEAR PRICING ROUNDS Tate & Lyle issues the following routine update regarding the 2007 calendar yearpricing rounds. Food & Industrial Ingredients, Americas has substantially completed thenegotiation of its 2007 calendar year sales contracts. There was a small loss insweetener volume as it sought to increase margins in a rising corn market at theend of the negotiating period. Total sweetener margins for the 2007 calendaryear are expected to be higher, much as anticipated. We also anticipateachieving higher total net margins on both value added food and industrialingredients. Our expectations for margins on ethanol sales, which represent a smallproportion of Food & Industrial Ingredients, Americas' overall sales, remainconsistent with our assumptions for our new facility in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Highercorn costs and lower gasoline prices mean that 2007 ethanol margins are expectedto be substantially lower than those achieved in the current financial year. Recent comments from the EU Agriculture Commissioner regarding the slowsurrender of quota to the restructuring fund have heightened concerns over acontinuation of oversupply of sugar in the sugar year ending 30 September 2008.Against this background, we now think it unlikely that any recovery in sugarpricing will occur during the 2007 calendar year. This reinforces our decisionto surrender beet sugar quota at Eastern Sugar, where negotiations are ongoing. The pricing round for Food & Industrial Ingredients, Europe is (as is normal forthis time of year) at an early stage. So far satisfactory progress is being madeto recover higher raw material and energy costs. \* TCONTACTSFerne Hudson, Head of Media and Press RelationsTel: 020 7626 6525 or Mobile 07713 067433 Mark Robinson, Director of Investor RelationsTel: 020 7626 6525 or Mobile: 07793 515861 [email protected]\* T About Tate & Lyle: Tate & Lyle is a world leading manufacturer of renewable foodand industrial ingredients. It uses innovative technology to transform corn,wheat and sugar into value-added ingredients for customers in the food,beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paper, packaging and building industries.The Company is a leader in cereal sweeteners and starches, sugar refining, valueadded food and industrial ingredients, and citric acid. Tate & Lyle is the worldnumber-one in industrial starches and is the sole manufacturer of SPLENDA(R)Sucralose. Headquartered in London, Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchangeunder the symbol TATE.L. In the US its ADRs trade under TATYY. The Companyoperates more than 65 production facilities in 29 countries, throughout Europe,the Americas and South East Asia. It employs 7,000 people in its subsidiarieswith a further 4,800 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the year to 31 March2006 totalled £3.7 billion. Additional information can be found on this websitewww.tateandlyle.com. SPLENDA(R) and the SPLENDA(R) logo are trademarks of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC Copyright Business Wire 2006Related Shares:
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