After searching i can't believe there's no thread on this one.

Anyhow what about a bounce for tomorrow after some sort of analysts meeting?

Regards

Stan.

Half-yearly Report

Highlights

Speciality Food Ingredients sales up 5% (6% in constant currency) with adjusted operating profit 7% lower than the strong first half last year after absorbing the step change in fixed costs and a softer first quarter

Bulk Ingredients adjusted operating profit up 6% (7% in constant currency) with strong performance from sweeteners more than offsetting more normal co-product returns following £19 million of additional income in the comparative period

Business transformation programme continues with encouraging initial customer response to our new global Commercial and Food Innovation Centre in Chicago and the launch of our new venture fund

4.2% increase in interim dividend to 7.4p (2011 7.1p)

Tate & Lyle's first half reported profits dissolve
Thu 08 Nov 2012


LONDON (SHARECAST) - Softer market conditions in Europe and an increase in fixed costs put a dent in half year profits at sweeteners firm Tate & Lyle.

Reported profit before tax in the six months to September 30th tumbled to £172m from £241m the year before, a 28% fall on a constant currency (CC) basis. Adjusted profit before tax, however, which strips out one-off items, rose 2% on a CC basis to £179m from £177m at the halfway point of the previous year.

Sales rose 7% on a CC basis to £1,631m fro £1,540m.

"Tate & Lyle made progress in the first six months against the backdrop of a strong first half last year, softer market conditions in Europe and the step change in fixed costs associated with the restart of our SPLENDA Sucralose facility in McIntosh, Alabama and business transformation initiatives," said Javed Ahmed, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle.

"Despite facing a number of headwinds this year, I am pleased that the business continues to perform solidly," he declared.

The interim dividend has been lifted to 7.4p from 7.1p last year.

Interim Management Statement

OPERATING PERFORMANCE – CONTINUING OPERATIONS

Group adjusted profit before tax1 for the third quarter was broadly in line with our 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 our business transformation initiatives2.

Within Speciality Food Ingredients, we achieved good sales growth with volume growth ahead of the wider speciality food ingredients market. In starch-based speciality ingredients, we achieved good sales growth with volume growth in all regions. In high intensity sweeteners, while we 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 we now expect 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 profit3 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 and co-products

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, we 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 we implemented a number of actions including adjustments to our corn sourcing programme.

We 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. We 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.

BALANCE SHEET AND WORKING CAPITAL

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 rates4, we currently anticipate that this will drive a net cash outflow in the final quarter of the financial year.

CUSTOMER CONTRACTING

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, we 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.

OUTLOOK

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, we expect to make modest progress this financial year.

END

Nicely through 800.0 today. Could this be the start of modest progress or a dead cat?

Edit - Trading statement 28th March.

Another good surge today on low volume, have a initial target of 830.0

Stop to 820.0 to lock in + 22

Stop to target 830.0 to lock in + 32. Currently broken 52 week high can it hold and break out further?

Reversed and went short on the spreads on 8th @ 823.84 target 800.00 stop to entry risk free trade.

Trading Statement

Societe Generale Buy 833.00 838.00 900.00 975.00 Reiterates

Final Results

Highlights

Speciality Food Ingredients sales up 7% to £947 million (8% in constant currency) with adjusted operating profit broadly in line (0% in constant currency) with the prior year at £213 million (2012 – £214 million)
Bulk Ingredients adjusted operating profit up by 6% to £182 million (7% in constant currency)
Adjusted diluted earnings per share up 4% to 57.0p (5% in constant currency)
5.6% increase proposed for the final dividend to 18.8p, making a total dividend increase of 5.2% to 26.2p
Promising new product launches including our stevia-based, natural, no-calorie sweetener, TASTEVA® Stevia Sweetener and salt reduction product, SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres

Interim Management Statement

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

This Interim Management Statement covers the period from 1 April 2013 to 30 June 2013, which is the first quarter of the financial year.

OPERATING PERFORMANCE – CONTINUING OPERATIONS

Adjusted1 operating profit for the Group for the first quarter was in line with our expectations.

As expected, the unusually cold spring and slow start to the summer in the US resulted in volume softness within the beverage sector, mainly impacting Bulk Ingredients.

In Speciality Food Ingredients, volumes and sales grew ahead of the wider speciality food ingredients market. We experienced strong volume growth in Europe and emerging markets although this was partially offset by a softer performance in the US, where lower than expected sweetener sales resulted in slightly lower margins.

In Bulk Ingredients, as expected, we experienced somewhat lower volumes in US bulk liquid sweeteners, although this was offset primarily by a stronger performance from EU bulk liquid sweeteners, where high sugar prices and lower corn costs resulted in higher margins than expected.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

In the last two months, we have announced two initiatives to develop our Speciality Food Ingredients business.

On 16 July 2013, we announced the formation of a food systems joint venture, Tate & Lyle Howbetter, through the acquisition of a 51% equity interest in Jiangsu Howbetter Food Co., Ltd, a leading food systems business in China. The creation of Tate & Lyle Howbetter will provide us with a solid platform on which to accelerate the growth of our Food Systems business in China. The transaction is subject to governmental approval which is expected in the autumn.

In May 2013, we acquired Biovelop, an early-stage manufacturer of oat beta-glucan, which broadens our health and wellness offering and adds a clean-label, speciality fibre with strong health claims to our existing corn-based fibre portfolio.

ORSAN CHINA

In May 2013, the on-sale of Orsan China (a monosodium glutamate producer in which Tate & Lyle previously held a stake and which was sold in 2009) resulted in a one-off operating gain of £3.5 million.

DEBT MANAGEMENT AND BALANCE SHEET

The Group’s financial position strengthened during the period. Net debt of £426 million at 30 June 2013 has reduced from £479 million at 31 March 2013.

OUTLOOK

Our outlook for the year remains unchanged and we continue to expect to deliver another year of profitable growth.

1 Continuing operations: before exceptional items and amortisation of intangible assets acquired through business combinations

END

Credit Suisse Neutral 763.00 784.00 930.00 800.00 Downgrades

Berenberg Buy 763.00 784.00 950.00 950.00 Reiterates

Canaccord Genuity Buy 739.75 900.00 900.00 Reiterates

Trading Statement on Friday.

Trading Statement

Trading Update

Tate & Lyle issues the following trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2013 ahead of the announcement of Half Year Results on Thursday 7 November 2013.

OPERATING PERFORMANCE – CONTINUING OPERATIONS

The Group’s performance in the second quarter was broadly in line with our expectations. Adjusted1 operating profit for the Group for the first half is expected to be slightly lower than the comparative period, largely driven by softness in the US beverage sector as a result of the cold spring and slow start to the summer which has affected sweetener volumes in both divisions.

In Speciality Food Ingredients, volume growth is expected to be in line with the wider speciality food ingredients market with strong volume growth in emerging markets and Europe, partially offset by slightly lower volumes in the US. We saw strong demand for our texturant and fibre ingredients, particularly in Asia Pacific and Latin America, but softness in the US beverage sector held back volume growth across our higher margin speciality sweeteners. This, together with lower selling prices for SPLENDA® Sucralose, is expected to result in operating profit in this division being broadly in line with the prior year period in constant currency.

Within Bulk Ingredients, operating profit is expected to be somewhat lower than the comparative period driven by lower US bulk liquid sweetener volumes. During the second quarter, we largely mitigated the increased costs associated with poor end of season corn quality and resultant lower starch production yields, and the significant decrease in the corn price.

OUTLOOK

In Speciality Food Ingredients, we expect to deliver growth in volumes, sales and profits across all regions for the full year.

Within Bulk Ingredients, in North America we expect solid demand for liquid sweeteners and stable demand for our other products. In Europe, lower corn prices are expected to more than offset the impact of lower sugar prices on isoglucose margins. Consequently, we anticipate this division delivering a stronger performance during the second half than the same period last year, and full year profits to be more evenly distributed between the first and second half.

Our profits remain sensitive to fluctuations in foreign currency particularly the US dollar to sterling exchange rate. In addition, as usual, the outcome of the calendar year sweetener pricing rounds will influence performance in the final quarter of the financial year.

Overall, we expect to deliver another year of profitable growth.

1 Continuing operations: before exceptional items and amortisation of intangible assets acquired through business combinations

END

Investec Buy 737.00 825.00 825.00 Reiterates

03 Oct 13 Deutsche Bank Buy 737.00 1,050.00 1,030.00 Reiterates

02 Oct 13 Canaccord Genuity Buy 737.00 900.00 900.00 Reiterates

Canaccord note today:
"The H1 IMS is broadly reassuring. While poor weather in N. America has been a known headwind during the period, the H2 outlook comments are, in our view, positive. Given the stated H2 greater weighting of profits, both in Bulk and at group level, ahead of the call we estimate that the FY downgrade will be only a low single digit percentage cut. The market appears to be pricing in a far more significant cut to FY forecasts and we expect there could be relief that the outlook is not worse, especially considering management is usually quite conservative. The market’s worries about Sucralose pricing and Mexican HFCS appear to be overblown, as neither issue is highlighted in the outlook commentary. Demand for both SFI and Bulk products remains strong, despite the slowdown in emerging markets that is affecting the broader Consumer Staples sector. In fact, Asia Pacific and Latin America have been called out by management as regions of exceptional growth for SFI.
Today’s statement reinforces our positive view on the stock, particularly when contrasted with the significant underperformance (even relative to the Staples sector) in the share price during the quarter. The current price provides a compelling opportunity to buy into an extremely high quality ingredients business with a flexible balance sheet and a clear strategy for profit growth.
The sum of the parts on our numbers gives us a fair value of 911p. We expect a minor reduction in our forecasts, thus we are content to stick with the 900p target which is slightly below the fair value implied by the sum of the parts. Tate is trading on c.12x calendar 2014E PE (Consumer Staples average is 17x), with an 11% FCF yield and a 4% dividend yield."

Citigroup Buy 745.00 745.00 1,000.00 900.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Buy 745.00 745.00 1,030.00 1,030.00 Reiterates

Societe Generale Buy 738.00 745.00 900.00 865.00 Upgrades

Numis Add 735.75 745.00 884.00 884.00 Reiterates

Canaccord Genuity Buy 742.75 740.50 900.00 900.00 Reiterates