Tate & Lyle admits ‘disappointing year’ as US buyer circles
Tate & Lyle has seen profit and revenue slip in what the ingredients firm described as a “disappointing year” marked by muted demand, as a US buyer circles.
The FTSE 250 company saw revenue slip by three per cent to £2bn as profit before tax fell by 10 per cent to £238m in the year to March 2026.
The ingredients giant received a £2.7bn takeover approach from US rival Ingredion last week, which sent the British firm’s shares soaring by nearly 50 per cent.
Tate & Lyle snapped up gum firm CP Kelco in 2024 for $1.8bn, and while it said this takeover has been completed “successfully,” revenue reversed from 16 per cent growth before the acquisition to a six per cent downturn following the deal.
The company’s net finance more than doubled to £49m, mostly because it took on $600m (£447m) in debt to fund the buyout.
‘A challenging year’
The firm said: “This has been a challenging year for Tate & Lyle, integrating two large global businesses while navigating softer than expected market demand.
“And while the CP Kelco integration has been completed successfully, our overall financial performance has been disappointing.”
In November, the firm announced a plan to target investment and slash costs. The company aimed to be producing $50m in savings per year from 2027, but it said it achieved $24m savings in the year to March and is already on target for $50m annually going forward.
Tate & Lyle said it plans to cut costs further by moving to a direct-to-customer model, as distributors had typically accounted for 15 per cent of its revenue and half of CP Kelco’s.
The firm saw revenue slip five per cent to £737m in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where it said “market conditions remained softer and customer take-up lower than expected”.
Acting with ‘urgency’ to shift course
Chief executive Nick Hampton said: “We simultaneously faced softer market demand than anticipated, an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape and the integration of two large global businesses.
“Overall, our financial performance has been disappointing. We are acting with urgency to return the business to top-line growth, and the targeted actions we set out in November are progressing well.”
The firm declared a final dividend of 13.2p per share, bringing the total dividend in line with last year, at 19.8p.
Tate & Lyle is known for its golden syrup brand but, in 2010, it sold its naming rights for the product along with its sugar refining business to American Sugar Refining for £211m.
The firm has since expanded its ingredients business and produces sweeteners, dietary fibres and texture additives used by food producers across the world.
Tate & Lyle was created in 1921, after the sons of rival sugar refiners Henry Tate and Adram Lyle merged their fathers’ firms following their deaths. It has been listed in London since 1938.
The firm’s share price closed one per cent higher at 518p on Wednesday and it has gained more than 40 per cent in the year so far.
Ingredion is yet to make a firm offer, and will need to do so before June 11, or walk away, according regulatory rules. Tate & Lyle did not elaborate on the deal in its update on Thursday.