Tate & Lyle full year profits soar to £126m

Full year pre-tax profits at Tate & Lyle soared to £126m from 25m as revenues rose 1% to £2.35bn.

Adjusted profit before tax was £67m higher at £193 largely as a result of net exceptional costs in the year of £50m.

Exceptional items include costs relating to the restructuring of the SPLENDA Sucralose and European businesses totaling £48m, US litigation costs of £15m, and a net gain of £7 million in the Tate & Lyle Ventures fund.

“While we expect to recognise further modest exceptional costs in relation to the completion of the group’s restructuring in the 2017 financial year, we now expect the total cost to be below the level of £185m announced in April 2015. The effect of exchange translation was to increase adjusted profit before tax by £8m,” Tate & Lyle said.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share for continuing operations were 2.5p higher at 34.5p, also benefiting from a lower effective tax rate of 16.5% against 18.4% in 2015.