Tate & Lyle PLC on Thursday said it saw its half year profit spike on higher revenue and lower finance costs, and upped its interim dividend by 15%.

The London-based sweetener and food ingredients supplier said pretax profit for the half year ended September 30 jumped 91% to £130 million from £68 million a year prior.

Revenue grew 0.9% to £857 million from £849 million a year ago, benefiting from ‘a combination of our focus on mix and margin expansion as well as the recovery of inflation, partially offset by softer consumer demand and customer de-stocking,’ explained Chief Executive Officer Nick Hampton.

Finance costs decreased by 13% to £13 million from £15 million the year prior.

Tate & Lyle upped its interim dividend by 15% to 6.2 pence per share from 5.4p the year before.

Looking ahead, the supplier said it expects revenue for the full year ending March 31 to rise slightly from £1.75 billion in financial 2022. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected to increase between 7% to 9% from £320 million a year ago.

Chief Executive Officer Nick Hampton commented: ‘Tate & Lyle delivered a robust financial performance in the first half despite challenging market conditions and made good progress on its growth-focused strategy...Our strong ingredient portfolio and solutions capabilities in sweetening, mouthfeel and fortification mean we are well-placed to benefit from the long-term trends towards healthier, tastier and more sustainable food and drink.’

Shares in Tate & Lyle were down 0.2% at 654.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

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