Tate and Lyle
Tate & Lyle expects its full-year result will be 'modestly ahead' of expectations due to strong sales across its divisions Reuters/Andrew Winning

Ingredients maker Tate & Lyle expects its full-year results will be "modestly ahead" of expectations due to strong sales across its divisions.

The group, which makes the sweetener Splenda, said sales of its starches and corn syrup to food and drink makers were strong across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It added that sweetener sales in the US "remained robust", in a third quarter trading statement covering the three month to the end of December.

Tate & Lyle in November raised its expectations for full-year profit after a better than expected first half helped by strong demand for soft drinks in the United States and a weak British pound.

In 2010 Tate & Lyle sold the bulk of its sugar business to American Sugar Refining of the US for £211m in a deal that weakened the link with the product the group was founded on in 1921. The group has since sold all of its sugar operations.