Tate & Lyle records six-month results upturn, despite wider market turbulence
The Tate & Lyle team at Gulfood Manufacturing last week: Pic: Neill Barston
Tate & Lyle ingredients solutions business has reported improved six-month results, with the company delivering a 20% increase in revenue, to £849 million for the period, reports Neill Barston.
According to the group’s latest figures, its operating profit also produced notable improvements, up 29% to £137 million, and profits before tax were also up by 10%, to £139 million, despite wider global economic uncertainties, as well as supply chain challenges impacting on the sector.
However, as Confectionery Production discovered in meeting the team at this year’s Gulfood Manufacturing event in Dubai, the business has enjoyed enhanced fortunes in the UAE region, and across its global portfolio, as consumers’ demands for healthier product options – including within confectionery and bakery segments, continues to grow (see our extended coverage in our upcoming edition).
The company took the opportunity to showcase a number of its solutions for the sweets and snacks industries at last week’s show, which included its ‘Stevia challenge’ – a dark room for visitors to its stand to see if they were able to determine which were sugar reduced options, compared to full-sugar versions. The event also saw an unveiling of a stevia-based version Karak tea, which remains a regional favourite.
CEO Nick Hampton welcomed the latest improved results, asserting that the company’s decision to focus on food and drink sugar reduction solutions had proved fruitful.
He said: “Our strong first-half represents an excellent start to Tate & Lyle’s first full year as a growth-focused, science-driven, speciality food and beverage solutions business. Food & Beverage Solutions delivered another half of strong revenue and profit performance with broad-based growth across all regions. We continued to see robust customer demand for solutions which make healthier food and drink, and to benefit from our increasing focus on innovation and close customer collaboration.
“We have seen significant inflation and supply chain volatility in raw materials, energy and logistics costs, especially in Europe. We have worked closely with our customers to provide visibility of increasing input costs and continue to follow this approach as we enter discussions for 2023 calendar year contract renewals,” explained the CEO, who added that the separation of the Primient joint venture was executed successfully in April to the great credit of both teams.
Though he noted that Primient had a difficult first half due to inflation and operational challenges, underlying demand remains robust and with a focus on cash generation we have received US$76m in cash dividends this year.
Hampton added: “The strategic re-positioning of Tate & Lyle to focus on speciality food and beverage solutions has significantly enhanced the quality and resilience of our business. Despite the uncertain economic outlook, we remain confident that the strength of our ingredient portfolio across attractive categories and regions, our focus on serving our customers, and the expertise and commitment of our people will enable us to successfully deliver our growth-focused strategy.”