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Tate & Lyle plc (TATE.L)

Consumer Defensive Balanced

Supplying healthier ingredients like reduced sugar and added fibre to food and drink brands worldwide.

£5.54
≈ 554p · London-listed shares are usually quoted in pence (GBX) elsewhere; the Almanac shows pounds (£1 = 100p).

Is Tate & Lyle plc a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Solid gross margin shows strong pricing power for speciality products. Worth weighing: Modest net profit margin leaves little room for operational hiccups. Below, we lay out what it does, what its numbers mean, and the honest risks, so you can decide for yourself.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-15.7%
52-week range+5% past year
£5.54
Low £3.19High £5.80
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Tate & Lyle plc
£843-16%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has Tate & Lyle plc actually fallen?

−59%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Tate & Lyle plc fell as much as −59% from a high to a later low. Drops of this size are a normal part of owning a share - worth knowing in advance, so a dip doesn't come as a shock.

Worst peak-to-trough fall in the daily closing price over the period we hold. Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£2.45B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
4.05M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£5.54 – £5.56
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£3.19 – £5.80
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
25.2
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
3.6%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.34
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.34
Calm
Wild
Steadier than most

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▲ +5% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Global regulation against sugar leads to a permanent shift towards the company's catalogue.

The bear case

Major food brands successfully develop alternative ingredient suppliers.

What does Tate & Lyle plc do?

Operating quietly behind the scenes, this British food science stalwart helps big brands reformulate their products to meet modern health demands. It makes its money by selling speciality sweeteners, fibres, and texturists to major food and beverage manufacturers. The key thing to keep an eye on is whether its cheaper future earnings projections actually materialise as customers adjust their inventory levels.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on momentum and value, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 55Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 38Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 33Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 71Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 43
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Momentum screens high (71/100)
  • Solid gross margin shows strong pricing power for speciality products
  • Low beta rating means less drama during wider market downturns
  • Decent dividend yield provides a regular income stream
What to watch
  • Vulnerability to customer inventory cycles and destocking phases
  • Competition in the alternative sweetener and fibre market
  • Exposure to shifting agricultural commodity prices

What do Tate & Lyle plc's numbers mean?

P/E
25.2
Shows how much investors are paying for every pound of past yearly profit, which sits a bit higher until recent earnings catch up.
Around the middle of the 50 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Forward P/E
12.8
Looks at expected future profits, dropping significantly if the business hits its upcoming earnings targets.
Around the middle of the 59 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Gross margin
45.8%
Demonstrates that after making its ingredients, a healthy chunk of revenue remains before running expenses.
Around the middle of the 59 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Dividend yield
3.6%
Pays out a steady cash reward to shareholders relative to its share price, common for stable consumer goods names.
Around the middle of the 59 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Beta
0.3
Indicates the share price tends to move much less wildly than the wider stock market, acting as a calmer ride.

Does Tate & Lyle plc pay a dividend?

Yes - Tate & Lyle plc currently pays a dividend of about 3.6% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

What do the numbers say about Tate & Lyle plc's dividend?

There's no rating here, and we don't judge whether the dividend will continue - that would be advice. Here are the figures income investors usually look at, and what each one means, so you can weigh it up yourself.

Dividend yield3.6%The yearly dividend as a percentage of today's price. A very high figure often means the price has fallen because the market expects a cut, so a big yield is a question to look into, not a prize.
Payout ratio92%The share of profit paid out as dividends. A lower figure leaves headroom; near or above 100% means most or all of the profit is going out as dividends.
Dividend cover1.1×Profit divided by the dividend (the payout ratio the other way up). As a rough convention many income investors like around 2× or more; below 1× means the company paid out more than it earned that year.

Figures are from the latest available data and can be distorted by one-off results. Past payments don't predict future ones, and a dividend can be cut at any time. This lays out the numbers to help you understand them - it is not a view on what will happen.

When does Tate & Lyle plc report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Tate & Lyle plc is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-05 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Consumer Defensive

Altria GroupMcCormick & Company, IncorporatedThe Coca-Cola CompanyKenvue Inc.Philip Morris International Inc.Monster Beverage CorporationTarget CorporationPepsiCo, Inc.

What are the scenarios for Tate & Lyle plc?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£6£6£3today · £6▲ Bull · £6• Base · £6▼ Bear · £5in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +12%Customer destocking ends sooner than expected and ingredient demand picks up.
Base
0% to +5%Trading remains steady as health-focused food trends tick along normally.
Bear
-8% to -15%Food manufacturers continue using up existing stock rather than buying new ingredients.

What are the pros and cons of Tate & Lyle plc?

4bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case4
  • Solid gross margin: The share of each £1 of sales left after the direct cost of making the product, before other running costs. Higher usually means more pricing power. shows strong pricing power for speciality products
  • Low beta rating means less drama during wider market downturns
  • Decent dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone. provides a regular income stream
  • Well-aligned with long-term global trends towards healthier eating
The catch3
  • Modest net profit margin leaves little room for operational hiccups
  • Slow recent revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago. suggests sluggish top-line momentum
  • Return on equity: How much profit the company makes for each £1 shareholders have put in. Higher usually means a more efficient business. is relatively low at just over six percent
Key risks3
  • Vulnerability to customer inventory cycles and destocking phases
  • Competition in the alternative sweetener and fibre market
  • Exposure to shifting agricultural commodity prices
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-02. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.