TATE Tate & Lyle Plc

Nick Hampton, Chief Executive said:

"In challenging market conditions, it's been another year of robust financial performance and strategic progress, with strong profit growth and productivity delivery, excellent cash generation, and further progress to transform the business.

 

The actions taken over the last six years have created a higher quality and more resilient business, with the agility to navigate the challenging economic environment and softer consumer demand we saw last year. While managing these short-term market dynamics, we also continued to set up the business for long-term growth by increasing investment in technology, innovation, solution selling and new capacity, and by intentionally moving away from low margin business. I am particularly pleased by our progress building our solutions business with customers, a core element of our strategy, with solutions new business wins continuing to grow.

 

The separate announcement we made today of the sale of our remaining stake in Primient represents an important milestone for our business. With this sale, the transformation of Tate & Lyle into a fully-focused speciality food and beverage solutions business is complete. We are now well-positioned to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead as we look to provide our customers with the solutions they need to meet growing consumer demand for healthier, tastier and more sustainable food and drink.

 

Our robust balance sheet, strong cash generation and the proceeds from the sale of Primient underpin our confidence to enhance shareholder returns through the share buyback programme, whilst retaining the flexibility to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities. We are excited by Tate & Lyle's future."

 

 

Outlook

We have navigated the unprecedented cycle of inflation and volatile consumer demand well, delivering a compound average growth rate of revenue of 11% and adjusted EBITDA of 10% for the three years ended 31 March 2024.

 

Over the last year, we prioritised revenue and margin, ahead of volume growth. Looking ahead, we expect to grow from this new base and, with the end of customer destocking and consumer confidence gradually improving, we expect good volume growth in the 2025 financial year, accelerating as the year progresses.

 

Following a period of exceptional input cost inflation, we are now seeing input cost deflation and, as a result, revenue was lower in the second half of the 2024 financial year reflecting the pass through of lower costs. This is expected to continue in the first half of the 2025 financial year.

 

Therefore, for the year ending 31 March 2025, we expect to deliver in constant currency:

 

·    Revenue slightly lower than the prior year

·    EBITDA growth of between 4% and 7%.

 

Following completion of the sale of Primient, we will no longer consolidate its profits.

 

 

Sale of Primient and share buyback programme

 

Sale of remaining interest in Primient

 

Over the last six years, Tate & Lyle has been executing a major strategic transformation to become a growth-focused speciality food and beverage solutions business. This transformation has included a much sharper focus on customers and categories, increased investments in innovation and solution selling capabilities, and significantly strengthening our sweetening, mouthfeel and fortification platforms through new product development and acquisitions.

 

A critical step in this transformation journey was the sale, in April 2022, of a controlling interest in Primient, our primary products business in North America and Latin America to KPS Capital Partners, LP (KPS).

 

Today, we separately announced that we have reached an agreement to sell our remaining 49.7% interest in Primient to KPS. Under the agreement, Tate & Lyle will receive US$350 million (c.£279 million). These proceeds will be payable in cash at completion which is anticipated by the end of July 2024. The transaction values Tate & Lyle's 49.7% stake in Primient at 6.5x EV/EBITDA, ahead of the valuation of Primient on the sale of the initial controlling stake, completed on 1 April 2022.

 

The sale completes the staged exit from Primient well ahead of expiry of the original lock-up period of eight years which lasts until 1 April 2030. The robust long-term agreements between Tate & Lyle and Primient put in place in April 2022 to ensure supply security, with a remaining life of around 18 years, will continue to operate. Net cash proceeds, after tax, are expected to be around US$270 million (c.£215 million).

 

Total cash proceeds from the full exit of Primient including dividends received since the sale of the initial holding in April 2022 exceeds US$1.5 billion.

 

Share buyback programme and capital allocation

 

Consistent with the Board's capital allocation policy, the Board intends to return the net cash proceeds received from the Primient sale to shareholders by way of an on-market share buyback programme. The buyback is expected to commence on completion of the Primient sale and further details will be announced in due course.

 

The Board's priority is to continue its disciplined deployment of capital and to maintain Tate & Lyle's financial strength. Looking forward, we will look to retain the flexibility in the balance sheet to drive value accretive organic and inorganic growth, with long-term efficient leverage sitting in the range of 1.0x to 2.5x net debt to EBITDA.  

Fully-focused speciality food and beverage solutions business

 

Following the sale of Primient, Tate & Lyle is a fully-focused, speciality food and beverage solutions business with a clear strategic focus and strong sense of purpose.

 

·    Global leader in sweetening, mouthfeel and fortification, creating solutions for our customers to meet growing consumer trends for healthier food and drink.

·    Science-driven business, with an established record of innovation and scientific expertise.

·    Well-balanced and global business with a strong presence in developed markets and a platform for accelerated growth in the large markets of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

·    Strong balance sheet providing flexibility to invest for growth, and an experienced management team with a track record of delivery.

 

Over the last six years, Tate & Lyle has been re-positioned to be at the centre of the future of food, operating in segments of the market which are seeing significant growth. This supports our five-year financial ambition to 31 March 2028, to deliver:

 

·    Revenue growth of 4% to 6% each year (2024: (2)% lower)

·    Adjusted EBITDA growth of 7% to 9% each year (2024: 7% growth)

·    Improved organic return on capital employed by up to 50bps on average each year (2024: 40 bps improvement)

·    US$100m of productivity savings (2024: US$41 million savings and ambition increased to US$150m).

 

As stated at our Capital Markets Event on 8 February 2023, revenue growth is on an underlying basis excluding the impact of abnormal inflation and deflation. We also have the potential to further accelerate growth through partnerships and M&A.

 

 

 

Delivering our strategy

 

We continued to invest in progressing our strategy in line with our commitment to 'Science, Solutions, Society'.

 

Science

 

·    Investment in innovation and solution selling was 5% higher, with investments in new customer-facing labs, new technology and strengthening capabilities in areas such as sensory and open innovation.

·    New Product revenue was up 13% on a like-for-like basis (i.e. no products are removed from disclosure due to age) with strong growth in the mouthfeel platform; revenue was modestly lower on a reported basis.

·    We launched 9 New Products into the market including TASTEVA^® SOL Stevia Sweetener, a patent-protected breakthrough in stevia technology to help customers solve stevia solubility challenges.

·    New automated lab established at our Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Singapore with advanced technology to accelerate the development of mouthfeel solutions and increase our customers' speed-to-market.

·    We added 61 patents to our patent portfolio and now have over 540 patents granted and over 220 pending.

 

Solutions

 

·    The value of solutions-based new business wins increased by 3ppts to 21% of revenue, with strong solutions performance in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

·    Innovation is a key driver of our solutions offering. 44% of revenue from our new business pipeline involved the formulation of one or more New Products.

·    We opened a new Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia, bringing our global network of Centres to seventeen.

·    We invested €25 million to add new capacity for non-GMO PROMITOR^® Soluble Fibres in Boleráz, Slovakia.  Production came on-line in May 2024.

 

Society

 

·    We significantly advanced our sustainability agenda:

−  In the 2023 calendar year, from a 2019 base, our Scope 1 and 2 absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 11% lower (2030 target: 30% reduction), and our Scope 3 absolute GHG emissions were 20% lower, exceeding our target of a 15% reduction by 2030 seven years ahead of schedule.

−  In May 2024, we announced new targets to accelerate the reduction of our Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 GHG emissions. Our new targets to 2028, from a 2019 base, replace our existing 2030 targets and have been validated as science-based on a 1.5^oC trajectory by the Science Based Targets initiative.

−  Our facility in Guarani, Brazil became our first site to be 100% powered by renewable energy, and our facilities in the Netherlands, UK and Italy are buying 100% of their electricity from renewable sources.

−  We continued to support sustainable acres of corn equivalent to 100% of the corn we buy each year (367,000 acres in 2023), and to support intervention programmes with farmers in the US, for example to manage nitrogen levels in the soil to increase crop yields, improve soil health and minimise the impact on local watersheds.

−  90% of our waste was beneficially used mainly either as nutrients on local farms or for energy recovery.

·    45% of leadership and management roles (~500 positions) are held by women.

·    Since 31 March 2020, our low- and no-calorie sweeteners and our fibres have removed 7.9 million tonnes of sugar from people's diets, equivalent to more than 31 trillion calories.

 

Group performance

 

Revenue		Adjusted EBITDA
Full-year	Change1	Full-year	Change1
£1 647m	(2)%	£328	7%

1  Growth in constant currency.  

 

 

Overview

 

The Group delivered strong adjusted EBITDA growth. Revenue was 2% lower reflecting lower volume partially offset by good mix management and the recovery of inflation. Adjusted EBITDA was 7% higher with adjusted profit before tax 18% higher.

 

Food & Beverage Solutions performed well with revenue slightly lower and adjusted EBITDA 8% higher. The underlying performance of the Sucralose business remained steady, with adjusted EBITDA 4% lower. The optimisation of Primary Products Europe is continuing with losses significantly reduced.

 

Our focus in Food & Beverage Solutions was to prioritise revenue and margin, ahead of volume growth. This intentional re-positioning, together with softer consumer demand and customer de-stocking, combined to deliver lower volume. Revenue was 2% lower, reflecting the benefit of mix management and the recovery of net input cost inflation. A key driver of our growth-focused approach is our investment in innovation and solution selling.  We made further progress in the year, with revenue from New Products up 13% on a like-for-like basis, and solutions as a percentage of our new business wins by value increasing by 3ppts to 21%.  

 

For Primient, the adjusted share of joint venture profit was £35 million, 53% higher. Operating performance improved, supported by robust demand for sweetener products, strong customer contracting in 2023 and 2024 and improved operational performance, while increased interest rates drove finance charges higher. Tate & Lyle received US$74 million in cash dividends from Primient in the year.

 

Cash generation

 

Free cash flow was £49 million higher at £170 million, with an improvement in working capital of £112 million, benefiting from increased discipline in inventory management. While driving greater cash generation, we also continued to invest in long-term growth with capital expenditure increasing by £39 million to £110 million to deliver capacity expansions for Food & Beverage Solutions.

 

Our ambition is to increase the conversion of profit into cash to 75% in the five years to 31 March 2028. During the 2024 financial year, we exceeded that target delivering cash conversion of 85%, 23ppts higher. Cash generation remains a priority, and our focus now is to consistently exceed cash conversion of 75%. Net debt was £153 million, £85 million lower, with net debt to EBITDA at 0.5x, and liquidity of over £1.1 billion.

 

Productivity

 

We have made an excellent start on our five-year ambition to deliver US$100 million of productivity savings by 31 March 2028. Productivity savings in the year were US$41 million, well ahead of our target at the start of the year of US$25 million savings. These savings came from areas such as operational efficiencies, supply chain and other cost savings.  Given this strong progress, we have increased our productivity target and now expect to deliver savings of US$150 million by 31 March 2028.

 

 

Reporting segments

Food & Beverage Solutions

82% of Group revenue and 86% of Group adjusted EBITDA

 

	Revenue			Revenue Drivers		Adjusted EBITDA
	Full-year		Change1	Volume2	Price Mix2	Full-year	Change1,3
North America	£642m	(3)%		(8)%	5%	-	-
Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America	£396m	(3)%		(7)%	4%	-	-
Europe	£321m	1%		(1)%	2%	-	-
Total	£1 359m	(2)%		(6)%	4%	£281m	8%

1     Growth in constant currency. 

2     To reflect the underlying drivers of revenue growth, the total percentages for volume and price mix have been adjusted by 4ppts to exclude the impact from our focus on mix management and margin expansion. Without this adjustment, the values for both volume and price mix would be 4ppts greater. 

3     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

 

Revenue was 2% lower in constant currency at £1,359 million. Lower volume from softness in consumer demand and customer destocking led to 6ppts reduction in revenue. Price mix increased revenue by 4ppts, reflecting 1ppt from our focus on strategic mix management and solution selling, and 3ppts from the impact of net input cost inflation (the recovery of inflation in the three quarters to 31 December 2023, net of the pass-through of deflation in the quarter to 31 March 2024).

 

Looking at the three regions, all were impacted by soft consumer demand and customer destocking. Revenue growth in Europe reflected the pricing through of greater net input cost inflation.

 

·    North America: Revenue was 3% lower. Cost of living pressures on consumers resulted in softer demand across our focus categories, partially offset by higher pricing. As we entered the fourth quarter, a reducing impact from customer destocking and lower food inflation, and new customer contracts, delivered improved volume momentum.

·    Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America: Revenue was 3% lower. In Asia, revenue was lower reflecting pricing pressure and weaker demand for stabilisation solutions, mitigated by good growth in beverages, particularly in North Asia. Consumer demand in China remained soft. In Latin America, revenue declined driven by lower priced imports from outside the region, especially in Mexico. Excluding the impact of these imports, revenue was ahead of the prior year with strong growth in beverages and bakery. In Middle East and Africa, revenue was ahead of the prior year with strong demand for dairy solutions in North Africa.

·    Europe: Revenue was slightly ahead of the prior year driven by three main factors.  Firstly, we saw good demand across the dairy and infant nutrition categories, and for mouthfeel solutions generally. Secondly, we continued to execute our strategy to exit some low margin business, with revenue from distributors, in particular, lower. Finally, we saw increased competition from imports from outside the region.

 

The renewal of customer contracts for the 2024 calendar year is expected to deliver a sequential improvement in volume growth as the year progresses. Reflecting this, average daily volume accelerated in the final quarter.  The new customer contracts include the pass through of input cost deflation. As a result, revenue was lower in the second half of the 2024 financial year.

 

Adjusted EBITDA was up 8% in constant currency at £281 million benefiting from mix management and the pricing through of net input cost inflation. This, together with the benefit from productivity and strong cost control, saw adjusted EBITDA margins expand by 180bps in constant currency. The effect of currency translation decreased adjusted EBITDA by £12 million.

 

Innovation and solution selling

 

New Product Revenue			Investment	Solutions
Value	Change	% of FBS revenue	Innovation and solution selling	% of new business wins
£219m	(4)%	16%	5%	21%

 

Revenue from New Products was 4% lower. Certain ingredients reached post-launch maturity in the year and were removed from the definition of New Products. On a like-for-like basis, which assumes the same ingredients are included in New Products revenues in both the current and comparative periods, New Products revenue was 13% higher. On this like-for-like basis, we saw strong growth in the mouthfeel platform, protein delivered a near-doubling of revenue and Quantum Hi-Tech helped to accelerate growth in fortification. 

 

Investment in innovation and customer-facing solution selling capabilities including sensory and open innovation was 5% higher. Targeted programmes to develop new ways of working with customers and build stronger solutions-based partnerships helped increase solutions new business wins by value to 21% (2023 - 18%). We have set an ambition to increase this to 32% over the five years to 31 March 2028.

 

 

Sucralose

11% of Group revenue and 16% of Group adjusted EBITDA

 

Revenue		Revenue Drivers		Adjusted EBITDA
Full-year	Change1	Volume	Price Mix	Full-year	Change1
£174m	(1)%	in line%	(1)%	£52m	(4)%

 

Underlying customer demand for sucralose remained steady. Revenue was broadly in line with the prior year as volume remained consistent and customer mix led to modestly lower pricing. Adjusted EBITDA declined modestly reflecting cost inflation across a range of inputs. Currency translation decreased adjusted EBITDA by £3 million.

 

 

Primary Products Europe

7% of Group revenue and (2%) of Group adjusted EBITDA

 

Revenue		Revenue Drivers		Adjusted EBITDA
Full-year	Change1	Volume	Price Mix	Full-year	Change1
£114m	(12)%	(15)%	3%	£(5)m	34%

1  Growth in constant currency.  

 

We continue to optimise the financial performance of Primary Products Europe through the transition of capacity to speciality ingredients. Revenue was lower by 12%, mainly reflecting the reduced volume of co-products. Adjusted EBITDA losses reduced significantly, benefiting from lower input costs.

 

 

Webcast details

 

Following this statement's release on 23 May 2024 at 07.00am (UK time), a live webcast will be held at 10.00am via this link. A replay of the webcast and presentation will be made available afterwards at this link. Only sell-side analysts and any pre-registered buy-side investors will be able to ask questions during the Q&A session.  Sell-side analysts will be automatically pre-registered. To pre-register, please contact Lucy Huang at lucy.huang@tateandlyle.com.

 

 

 

Commentary on the financial statements

 

 

Year ended 31 March	2024  £m	Restated 20231 £m	Constant  currency  change   %
Adjusted EBITDA
Food & Beverage Solutions	281	273	8%
Sucralose	52	58	(4%)
Primary Products Europe	(5)	(9)	34%
Adjusted EBITDA	328	322	7%
Depreciation and adjusted amortisation	(70)	(71)	(1%)
Adjusted operating profit	258	251	8%
Operating profit (statutory)	207	196	10%
Net finance expense	(6)	(20)	66%
Adjusted share of profit of Primient joint venture	35	24	53%
Adjusted profit before tax	287	255	18%
Profit before tax (statutory)	226	152	54%

1     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

 

Net finance expense

 

Net finance expense at £6 million was 66% lower in constant currency, mainly reflecting higher net income on the Group's cash balances. Because almost all of the Group's borrowings in the year were at fixed rates of interest, the Group was not exposed to significant changes in interest rates on its borrowings.

 

Exceptional items

 

Net exceptional charges of £25 million were included in profit before tax, of which a charge of £1 million was included from the Group's share of exceptional items in the Primient joint venture. Of these costs, £21 million related to organisational improvements to the Food & Beverage Solutions business and activities to drive productivity savings. Exceptional cash outflows for the period totalled £27 million. (For more information see Note 5).

 

Adjusted share of profit of Primient joint venture

Year ended 31 March	2024  £m	Restated 20232,3 £m	Constant  currency  change   %
Adjusted operating profit	143	102	47%
Net finance expense	(92)	(80)	(21%)
Adjusted share of profit from its own joint ventures after tax	32	33	2%
Adjusted profit before tax	83	55	58%
Adjusted share of profit of Primient joint venture3	35	24	53%

2     Reclassification adjustment: adjusted operating profit has been increased by £2 million and adjusted share of profit from its own joint ventures after tax reduced by the same amount.

3     The Group's share of the adjusted profit of Primient joint venture is based on profit after tax. Primient is a US partnership (so its partners rather than Primient itself are responsible for tax on its US income). Tax of £12 million (2023 - £6 million) has been deducted from profit before tax relating to tax on income earned by Primient's Brazilian subsidiary.

 

Adjusted operating profit was 47% higher in constant currency at £143 million reflecting robust demand for sweeteners, strong customer contracting in 2023 and 2024, and improved operational performance. The net finance expense increase reflected higher US interest rates. Statutory share of profit from the joint venture for the 2024 financial year was £25 million, mainly reflecting a £9 million charge for the amortisation of acquired intangibles and other fair value assets which was excluded from the adjusted share of profit.

 

Tate & Lyle received cash dividends from Primient of US$74 million in the year. 

 

 

Taxation

 

The adjusted effective tax rate for the year was 21.6% (2023 - 19.9%). The increase in the rate reflects more profit taxed in higher rate jurisdictions and the increase in the rate of UK corporation tax from 19% to 25%.  Looking ahead, we expect the adjusted effective tax rate for the year ending 31 March 2025 to be in line with the rate for fiscal year 2024. The reported effective tax rate (on statutory earnings) for the year was 20.6% (2023 - 16.8%). The lower rate in the comparative year was due to higher tax deductions on exceptional items recorded by Primient.

 

Earnings per share

 

Adjusted earnings per share for continuing operations at 55.5p were 18% higher (in constant currency). This increase reflects 16% higher profits after tax and benefit from a lower weighted number of shares of 2ppts, reflecting the share consolidation completed on 3 May 2022. Statutory diluted earnings per share for continuing operations increased significantly to 44.4p (2023 - 30.8p), reflecting mainly higher exceptional costs in, and therefore a lower share of profit from, joint ventures in the comparative period.

 

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

 

ROCE at 17.4% (2023 - 17.6%) was slightly lower reflecting the impact of the acquisition of Quantum Hi-Tech part way through the comparative period. ROCE increased by 40bps on an organic basis.

 

Dividend

 

The Board is recommending a final dividend of 12.9p (2023 - 13.1p) per share. This brings the full year dividend to 19.1p (2023 - 18.5p), an increase of 3.2%. In February 2023, in our Capital Markets Event, we announced our policy of paying interim dividends at the level of one third of the previous year's full-year dividend, accordingly an interim dividend for the six months to 30 September 2023 was paid of 6.2p (30 September 2022 - 5.4p) per share. Subject to shareholder approval, the proposed final dividend will be due and payable on 2 August 2024 to all shareholders on the Register of Members on 21 June 2024. In addition to the cash dividend option, shareholders will continue to be offered a Dividend Reinvestment Plan alternative.

 

Cash flow, net debt and liquidity

 

Free cash flow was £170 million (2023 - £121 million), an increase of £49 million. This reflected both higher profits and a strong focus on cash generation which delivered a £112 million improvement in net working capital mainly through improved inventory management discipline, with strong progress in initiatives to optimise inventory, across all of; raw materials, in-process inventory, and finished goods. Investments in infrastructure, capacity and technology drove capital expenditure to £110 million, £39 million higher in the year. Overall, cash conversion for the period improved by 23ppts to 85%¹.

 

We expect capital expenditure in the year ending 31 March 2025 to be in the £100 million to £120 million range.

 

Net debt at 31 March 2024 was £153 million, £85 million lower than at 31 March 2023. Strong free cash flow generation and dividends received from Primient of US$74 million (£59 million) were more than offset by outflows including the payment of dividends to shareholders of £76 million and payments in respect of share incentive schemes of £25 million. In April 2023, to reduce interest costs and in line with on-going balance sheet optimisation, the Group repaid a US private placement debt floating rate note of US$95 million ahead of its maturity using cash. On 30 October 2023, a US$25 million US private placement 3.83% fixed rate note was repaid on maturity using cash.

 

At 31 March 2024, the Group had access to £1.1 billion of available liquidity through readily available cash and cash equivalents and access to a committed, undrawn revolving credit facility of US$800 million (£633 million). Reported leverage at 31 March 2024 was 0.5 times net debt to EBITDA. On a covenant testing basis, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 0.3 times, which was much lower than the covenant threshold of 3.5 times.

 

On 16 May 2024 the Group's committed, undrawn and sustainability-linked revolving credit facility of US$800 million (£633 million) was amended and re-stated. The maturity date was extended for five years to 16 May 2029, and includes two further one-year extension options, which are subject to lender credit approval.

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1 Free cash conversion calculated as: free cash flow before capital expenditure divided by adjusted EBITDA

 

 

Non-GAAP measures

Some performance discussion and narrative in this announcement includes measures which are not defined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) such as IFRS. The Group believes this information, together with comparable GAAP measures, is useful to investors in providing a basis for measuring our operating performance, cash generation and financial strength. The Group uses these alternative performance measures for internal performance analysis and incentive compensation arrangements for employees.  These measures are not defined terms and may therefore not be comparable with similarly-titled measures reported by other companies. Wherever appropriate and practical, reconciliations are provided to relevant GAAP measures.

Alternative performance measures are used for and refer to continuing operations only.

The Group uses constant currency percentages and movements, using constant exchange rates which exclude the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.  We calculate constant currency values by retranslating current year results at prior year exchange rates into British Pounds.  The average and closing US dollar and Euro exchange rates used to translate reported results were as follows:

 

	Average rates		Closing rates
Year ended 31 March	2024	2023	2024	2023
US dollar : sterling	1.26	1.20	1.26	1.24
Euro : sterling	1.16	1.16	1.17	1.14

 

Items adjusted in alternative performance income statement measures (Adjustment items)

 

Several alternative performance measures are adjusted to exclude items due to their size, nature and / or frequency of occurrence. 

1.  Adjusted items excluded from earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (adjusted EBITDA) are: exceptional items (as they are material in amount; and are outside the normal course of business or relate to events which do not frequently recur), amortisation of acquired intangible assets, the unwind of fair value adjustments and other M&A costs.

2.  Additional adjusted items excluded from adjusted profit after tax are: tax on the above items and tax items that themselves are exceptional as they meet these definitions.  For tax items to be treated as exceptional, amounts must be material and their treatment as exceptional enable a better understanding of the Group's underlying financial performance.  Included in adjusted profit after tax is the adjusted share of profit of Primient (the Group's non-controlling joint venture interest, where the results of Primient have been adjusted for items meeting the Group's definitions herein).

 

Income statement measures

 

Adjusted revenue change

 

Adjusted revenue growth refers to the change in revenue for the period, in constant currency.  This is analysed between the drivers of revenue growth attributable to:

 

1.  Volume - this means, for the applicable period, the change in revenue in the period attributable to volume excluding those related to the re-positioning of the Food & Beverage Solutions business through a focus on mix management and margin expansion.

2.  Price mix - this means, for the applicable period, the change in revenue in such period calculated as the sum of i) the change in revenue attributable to changes in prices during the period; and ii) the change in revenue attributable to the composition of revenue in the period, including the volume effect of the impact of the re-positioning of the Food & Beverage Solutions business through a focus on mix management and margin expansion.

 

In the narrative where acquisitions are referred to in explaining revenue growth, this means changes in revenue resulting from acquisitions.

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

Adjusted EBITDA is used as the Group's primary profit measure for internal performance analysis.  Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as follows:

 

Year ended 31 March		2024  £m	20231  £m
Operating profit		207	196
Depreciation		58	59
Amortisation		36	36
Exceptional items		24	28
Other M&A activity-related items		2	2
Unwind of fair value adjustments		1	1
Adjusted EBITDA		328	322
Revenue		1 647	1 751
Adjusted EBITDA margin		19.9%	18.4%

1     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

 

Adjusted earnings per share

 

Adjusted earnings per share (adjusted EPS) is calculated as the adjusted profit for continuing operations attributable to shareholders' equity divided by the diluted average number of ordinary shares.  In calculating adjusted profit attributable to shareholders' equity, net profit attributable to shareholders' equity is adjusted to eliminate the post-tax impact of all excluded adjustment items. Refer to Note 8 for reconciliation of net profit attributable to shareholders' equity to adjusted profit attributable to shareholders equity.

 

Change in adjusted earnings per share is shown in constant currency.

 

Cash flow measure

The Group also presents an alternative cash flow measure, 'free cash flow' which is defined as cash generated from operating activities after net capital expenditure, net interest and tax payments, and excludes the impact of exceptional items, tax payments on behalf of Primient and the impact of acquisitions and disposals. 

The reconciliation of net cash flow from operating activities to free cash flow is as follows:

 

Year ended 31 March	2024  £m	20231  £m
Net cash flow from operating activities	208	66
Capital expenditure (net)	(110)	(71)
Tax paid in respect of Primient partnership	12	5
Exceptional cash flows2	39	101
Interest received	19	11
Other M&A activity-related items	2	2
Free cash flow attributable to discontinued operations	-	7
Free cash flow	170	121

1    Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

2    Includes exceptional cash flow of £27 million (2023 - £59 million) and tax paid in relation to gain on disposal of Primient of £12 million (2023 - £42 million)

 

Year ended 31 March	2024  £m	20231  £m
Adjusted EBITDA	328	322
Adjusted for
Changes in working capital	7	(105)
Capital expenditure (net)	(110)	(71)
Net retirement benefit obligations	(7)	(9)
Net interest and tax paid2	(57)	(28)
Share-based payment charge	13	20
Other non-cash movements	(4)	(8)
Free cash flow	170	121

1     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

2     Includes net interest paid of £5 million (2023 - £14 million) and tax paid (excluding tax in relation to Primient) of £52 million (2023 - £14 million).

 

Financial strength measures

 

The Group uses three financial metrics as key performance measures to assess its financial strength. These are net debt, the net debt to EBITDA ratio and the return on capital employed ratio. For the purposes of KPI reporting, the Group uses a simplified calculation of these KPIs to make them more directly related to information in the Group's financial statements.

 

All ratios are calculated based on unrounded figures in £ million.

 

Net debt

Net debt is a measure that provides valuable additional information on the summary presentation of the Group's net financial liabilities.  Net debt is defined as the excess of borrowings and lease liabilities over cash and cash equivalents.

The components of the Group's net debt are as follows:

	At 31 March 2024 £m	At 31 March 2023 £m
Borrowings	(544)	(659)
Lease liabilities	(46)	(54)
Cash and cash equivalents	437	475
Net debt	(153)	(238)

 

Net debt to EBITDA ratio

 

The net debt to EBITDA ratio shows how well a company can cover its debts if net debt and EBITDA are held constant.

 

The net debt to EBITDA ratio is as follows:

 

	At 31 March 2024 £m	At 31 March 20231  £m
Calculation of net debt to EBITDA ratio
Net debt	153	238
Adjusted EBITDA	328	322
Net debt to EBITDA ratio (times)	0.5	0.7

1     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

 

 

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

 

Return on capital employed (ROCE) is a measure of the return generated on capital invested by the Group.  The measure encourages compounding reinvestment within the business and discipline around acquisitions, as such it provides a guardrail for long-term value creation.  ROCE is a component of the Group's five-year performance ambition to 31 March 2028 and is used in incentive compensation.

 

ROCE is calculated as underlying operating profit excluding exceptional items and M&A related costs, divided by the average invested operating capital (calculated as the average for each month of goodwill, intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, working capital, provisions and non-debt related derivatives). As such the average invested operating capital is derived from the management balance sheet and does not reconcile directly to the statutory balance sheet.  All elements of average invested operating capital are calculated in accordance with IFRS.

 

 

	31 March	31 March
	2024	20231
Twelve months ended	£m	£m
Adjusted EBITDA	328	322
Deduct:
Depreciation	(58)	(59)
Amortisation	(36)	(36)
Unwind of fair value adjustments	(1)	(1)
Profit before interest, tax and exceptional items for ROCE	233	226
Average invested operating capital	1 343	1 278
ROCE %	17.4%	17.6%

1     Comparative restated to exclude other M&A costs of £(2) million reflecting the revised definition of adjusted EBITDA, see page 33.

 

Changes to the Board of Directors

 

·   David Hearn became a Director and Chair of the Tate & Lyle Board on 1 January 2024 following the resignation of Dr Gerry Murphy.  On his appointment, Warren Tucker stepped down as Interim Chair but continues to serve as a non-executive director and as Chair of the Audit Committee.

·   Paul Forman, the Senior Independent Director retired from the Board on 31 December 2023 having served his nine-year term. 

·   Kimberly (Kim) Nelson became Senior Independent Director on 1 January 2024.

·   Jeffrey (Jeff) Carr joined the Board as a non-executive director and as a member of the Audit and Nominations Committees on 1 April 2024.

·   On 24 April 2024, we announced that Dawn Allen, Chief Financial Officer, had decided to leave the Company to take the position of Chief Financial Officer of Haleon plc. Mrs Allen will remain with Tate & Lyle until October 2024 to support an orderly transition.  A process to appoint her successor has begun.

 

Cautionary statement

 

This statement of Full-Year Results for the year ended 31 March 2024 (Statement) contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results, operations and businesses of Tate & Lyle PLC. These statements and forecasts involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and forecasts.  A copy of this Statement can be found on our website at www.tateandlyle.com. A hard copy of the Statement is also available from the Company Secretary, Tate & Lyle PLC, 5 Marble Arch, London W1H 7EJ.

 

Enquiries

 

 

For more information contact Tate & Lyle PLC:

Christopher Marsh, VP Investor Relations                                   Nick Hasell, FTI Consulting (Media)

Tel: Mobile: +44 (0) 7796 192 688                                               Tel: Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 523 383