Tate & Lyle Achieves Specialty Food Ingredients Sales Growth, Rising Corn Costs Expected

Within Speciality Food Ingredients, the company achieved good sales growth with volume growth ahead of the wider speciality food ingredients market. In starch-based speciality ingredients, Tate & Lyle achieved good sales growth with volume growth in all regions. In high intensity sweeteners, the level of growth for sucralose was not as strong as anticipated in November.

4 Feb 2013 --- Tate & Lyle has issued an interim management statement covering the period from 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2012. Group adjusted profit before tax for the third quarter was broadly in line with expectations before the impact of exchange rate movements. As expected, adjusted profit before tax was lower than the comparative period as a result of the step change in fixed costs associated with business transformation initiatives.

Within Speciality Food Ingredients, the company achieved good sales growth with volume growth ahead of the wider speciality food ingredients market. In starch-based speciality ingredients, Tate & Lyle achieved good sales growth with volume growth in all regions. In high intensity sweeteners, while Tate & Lyle saw a return towards more normal sucralose volume growth and expect this to continue in the final quarter, the level of growth was not as strong as anticipated in November and the company now expects sucralose volumes for the full year to be slightly lower than last year. In Food Systems, sales were broadly in line with the comparative period on lower volumes. Operating profit for the Speciality Food Ingredients division for the full year is now expected to be broadly in line with the prior year.

Within Bulk Ingredients, overall demand for North American liquid sweeteners was solid during the third quarter. In Europe, margins for liquid sweeteners were broadly in line with the prior year period. The markets for industrial starches in both Europe and the US were relatively stable while the environment for US ethanol continued to be challenging.

Corn supplies in the US and Europe remained tight and with the latest projections from the USDA for the stocks-to-use ratio at 5.3%, prices are expected to remain high with some volatility over the coming months until the new harvest.

As announced in November 2012, Tate & Lyle have taken a number of steps to mitigate the impact of aflatoxin, a fungus caused by the unusually hot and dry conditions last summer. The impact of aflatoxin from the new harvest corn was felt particularly in the third quarter while Tate & Lyle implemented a number of actions including adjustments to our corn sourcing programme.

Tate & Lyle expect a further small increase in net corn costs in the final quarter of the financial year and estimate the impact of aflatoxin will be to reduce operating profit by around £7 million for the full year. The company will continue to take action to manage the risks posed by aflatoxin during the first half of next financial year up to the new harvest.

Net debt at 31 December 2012 was £395 million. “In light of continuing tight market conditions in both the US and Europe, we continue to hold high corn inventories for security of supply. As usual, we have paid for a significant amount of this corn in January, and at higher prices than the prior year. As a result, and based on current corn prices and exchange rates , we currently anticipate that this will drive a net cash outflow in the final quarter of the financial year,” a statement read.
The 2013 calendar year sweetener pricing round in North America for the Bulk Ingredients business is now substantially complete. As in the previous year, this pricing round has been conducted against the backdrop of materially higher corn costs.

In North America, after recovering these higher input costs, Tate & Lyle achieved a modest increase in corn sweetener unit margins across our sweetener customers reflecting a continuation of high levels of industry capacity utilisation. Bulk Ingredients sweetener volumes are expected to be broadly in line with calendar year 2012.

In Europe, we continue to contract over shorter periods to partially mitigate corn cost volatility. Despite sugar prices remaining high, sweetener margins are expected to be lower as a result of higher corn costs.

The Group has made a solid start to the final quarter. Despite facing a number of headwinds and before the impact of exchange rate movements, Tate & Lyle expect to make modest progress this financial year.