Tate & Lyle's low-calorie turnaround

As management foreshadowed earlier in the year, the commodities division continued to be rocked by weak ethanol prices, although a strong performance from the speciality food ingredients (SFI) business helped adjusted pre-tax profits to leap by 5 per cent. Turning to the balance sheet, net debt was reduced by £121m following the realignment of the Eaststarch joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland.

Finance director Nick Hampton says management is "right where we want to be" with strategic targets, although recent progress appears slow. By 2020, SFI is expected to contribute 70 per cent of group profits and source 30 per cent of its sales from emerging markets. But by March neither of those ambitions were more than 60 basis points further towards completion, at 60 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. Greater momentum was evident in sales of new products - defined as having been launched in the last seven years - which increased a third on a constant currency basis to $86m (£59m).

Credit Suisse expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £219m for the March 2017 year-end, leading to EPS of 37.9p, up from £189m and 33.6p in 2016.