Tate + Lyle PLC: delivers strong H1-2022

London / UK. (tl) Tate + Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of speciality food ingredients and solutions, issues the following trading statement for the half year results for the 2022 financial year. The strategic transformation is progressing well, the group says in its statement.

Headlines

  • Group delivered strong H1 performance
  • Double-digit revenue growth in Food + Beverage Solutions
  • New Products revenue growth acceleration
  • Effective management of cost inflation through productivity, cost discipline and pricing
  • Delivered environmental commitment to eliminate use of coal in all operations four years ahead of target
  • Transaction to create two focused businesses on track for completion in Q1 of 2022 calendar year
  • Strong platform for growth as a focused Food + Beverage Solutions business

Financial highlights

Continuing operations (new Tate + Lyle)

  • Revenue +19 percent; profit before tax +20 percent
    • Food + Beverage Solutions revenue +19 percent
    • New Products revenue +48 percent
    • Sucralose revenue +17 percent
  • Adjusted diluted EPS +25 percent

Discontinued operations (NewCo)

  • Adjusted profit after tax (12) percent lower

Total operations (Tate + Lyle Group)

  • Statutory profit after tax (23) percent lower at GBP 102m with exceptional costs of GBP 67m partially offset by benefit of GBP 25m held for sale accounting adjustments
  • Adjusted diluted EPS +3 percent higher at 29.8p
  • Free cash flow GBP 67m lower at GBP 127m, net debt GBP 8m lower at GBP 409m
  • Interim dividend increased by 2.3 percent to 9.0p

Chief Executive’s Summary

Nick Hampton, Chief Executive, said:«In a year of significant change as we re-position Tate + Lyle as a growth-focused speciality food and beverage solutions business, the Group delivered strong first half performance despite inflationary headwinds. Food + Beverage Solutions had an excellent half and we made good progress on the priorities we set out at the start of the year.

Consumer demand for healthier food and drink continues to strengthen across our markets and this was reflected in the performance of Food + Beverage Solutions which delivered strong volume and double-digit revenue growth across all regions. Our investment in innovation and focus on working more closely with customers continues to generate excellent results with revenue from New Products 48 percent higher.

The strategic transformation we announced in July is progressing well and we remain on course to complete the sale of a controlling stake in our Primary Products business in the Americas in the first quarter of 2022.

The strong performance of Food + Beverage Solutions underpins Tate + Lyle’s future potential as a growth-focused speciality food and beverage solutions business. The new Tate + Lyle is very well-positioned to deliver on its five-year ambition for mid single-digit organic revenue growth and annual operating margin expansion of at least 50 to 100 basis points per year, supported by increased investment in innovation and a strong balance sheet to fund both organic growth and M+A.

We are entering a new, ambitious and exciting chapter for Tate + Lyle and I look forward to the future with great optimism.»

Financial Summary

Proposed sale of a controlling stake in Primary Products and associated reporting changes
On 12 July 2021, we announced we had entered into an agreement to sell a controlling stake in a new company and its subsidiaries which will hold the Primary Products business in North America and Latin America and its interests in the Almidones Mexicanos S.A de C.V and DuPont Tate + Lyle Bio-Products Company, LLC joint ventures (together, ‘NewCo’) to KPS Capital Partners, LP (the ‘Transaction’). From July, NewCo has been classified as held for sale and met the definition of a discontinued operation in accordance with IFRS 5. As a result, NewCo is required to be treated as a discontinued operation for all of the year ending 31 March 2022. This classification has been adopted in this half-year results statement. The continuing operations comprise: Food + Beverage Solutions (into which the European Primary Products business, which is not part of the Transaction, and some stranded costs have been combined); Sucralose; and Central costs. The results for comparative periods have been restated on a consistent basis.

Continuing operations (new Tate + Lyle)

  • Food + Beverage Solutions:
    • Volume +9 percent with a particularly strong performance from Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America
    • Revenue +19 percent with double-digit organic growth across all regions; 3ppts from acquisitions
    • New Products revenue +48 percent reflecting strong customer demand for sugar reduction solutions
    • Profit +9 percent higher with benefit of positive mix and some reinvestment in future growth
      • Profit +2 percent higher at GBP 83m when including lower performance from Primary Products Europe
  • Sucralose:
    • Volume +23 percent led by strong demand in beverages and phasing of customer orders into the first half
    • −Revenue +17 percent with higher volume partially offset by customer mix and modest pricing pressure
    • Profit +34 percent at GBP 31m
  • Adjusted profit before tax +20 percent; Adjusted diluted EPS +25 percent

Discontinued operations (NewCo)

  • Volume up +3 percent as out-of-home consumption continued to recover; strong industrial starch growth
  • Profit (10) percent lower at GBP 74m
    • Sweeteners + Starches profit down (13) percent due to cost inflation and operational and supply chain disruption
    • Commodities profit 4 percent higher reflecting good market conditions at the start of the period

Total operations (Tate + Lyle Group)

  • Adjusted diluted EPS +3 percent
  • GBP 26m cost inflation mitigated to GBP 2m net of GBP 10m of pricing and GBP 14m of productivity benefits
  • Adjusted free cash flow GBP (67)m lower due to GBP 54m higher working capital from higher revenue and corn price
  • Net debt GBP 8m lower at GBP 409m; Net Debt to Ebitda ratio 0.8x
  • Interim dividend increased by 2.3 percent to 9.0p

Outlook for year ending 31 March 2022

We continue to work on completing the sale of a controlling interest in the Primary Products business in the Americas and certain joint venture interests to KPS Capital Partners, LP in the first quarter of the 2022 calendar year. For the purposes of providing an outlook, we are assuming completion of the transaction on 31 March 2022.

On that basis, for the year ending 31 March 2022 we expect:

Continuing operations (new Tate + Lyle)

  • Food + Beverage Solutions to deliver another year of progress
  • Sucralose profit to be ahead of the prior year
  • Growth in adjusted profit before tax in constant currency to be in the high single-digit percent range

Discontinued operations (NewCo)

  • Sweeteners and Starches adjusted operating profit to be below the prior year and Commodities profit to be significantly lower

Total operations (Tate + Lyle Group)

  • Change in adjusted diluted earnings per share in constant currency to be mid-single digits percent lower due to the performance of discontinued operations and expected cost inflation.
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