Trading Statement

Tate & Lyle PLC
                  

                            Tate & Lyle PLC

              Update prior to the Annual General Meeting

Tate & Lyle issues the following trading update ahead of the Annual General
Meeting of the Company that takes place at 11.30 am on 29th July 2004.

Trading in the 2005 year has started well. Profit before tax and exceptional
items for the quarter ended 30th June 2004 has been ahead of both our
expectation and the corresponding period in the prior year. All major businesses
have met or exceeded plan. Compared with the corresponding period, the
anticipated shortfall in Amylum's profitability has been more than offset by a
better than expected contribution achieved by SPLENDA(R)Sucralose.

Although it is early in the financial year the decline in raw material prices
for Amylum and the success of SPLENDA(R)Sucralose makes it likely that the
profit before tax and exceptional items for the year will be somewhat higher
than the Board envisaged at the time of the preliminary announcement of results
on 3rd June 2004.

We announced earlier today that Staley has reached agreement to end the long
running high fructose corn syrup civil legal case in the US with the payment of
total damages of US$100 million (£55 million). This will result in an
exceptional charge to the profit and loss account of this amount. As the payment
is expected to be tax deductible in the US, this equates to a charge of $60
million (£33 million) on an after tax basis. Staley continues to deny
emphatically involvement in any wrongdoing, but has settled with great
reluctance to ensure an end to this lengthy action and to avoid the risk and
uncertainty that a US jury trial would involve.

The buyer of Western Sugar has refinanced and has accelerated repayment of our
outstanding loan note which arose on disposal of Western in May 2002. This has
resulted in cash proceeds to Tate & Lyle of £22 million and an exceptional
credit to the profit and loss account of £16 million.

We are pleased with the progress being made on our strategy to grow value added
products and, in particular, the success of SPLENDA(R)Sucralose. We announced
earlier this year an expansion to the plant in McIntosh, Alabama and today
announce a further investment of £24 million (US$45 million). The investment
will be funded from existing resources and will be completed by April 2006 by
which time the output from the Alabama site will be more than double its level
at the time of the realignment of the SPLENDA(R) Sucralose partnership.

The commissioning of the astaxanthin plant to produce Aquasta(TM), a natural
nutrient and pigment for farm raised fish, has also been completed and
commercial sales have commenced. Construction of the new plant for the DuPont
Tate & Lyle BioProducts, LLC joint venture to produce Bio-3G in Loudon,
Tennessee, has commenced.

The proposal on the reform of the EU sugar regime was tabled by the European
Commission in the middle of July. What now follows will be wide-ranging
discussions involving the industry, farmers, customers and national governments
as well as the European institutions. We will be using this process to ensure
that our interests and concerns are properly addressed and to evaluate fully the
effect on our businesses. We are encouraged by recent support from the
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Select Committee investigating the issue which
stated that: 'We agree with the Government that ways have to be found to ensure
the cane refining sector is not put at an unfair disadvantage during an interim
period when preferential suppliers are adapting to the reform.' The timetable
for negotiations extends into 2005.

CONTACTS

Mark Robinson, Head of Investor Relations 
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone] [e-mail]

Chris Fox, Director of Corporate Relations (Press) 
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone]


Tate & Lyle is a world leader in ingredients. Its core competence is to take
corn, wheat or sugar, and add value to these raw materials through technology.
As a result of continuous innovation it offers an ever-wider product portfolio
of versatile and functional ingredients. These products include Cereal
Sweeteners, Starches, Sugars, Citric Acid and SPLENDA(R)Sucralose. Tate & Lyle
products have wide applications in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic,
paper, packaging and building industries. With headquarters in London, Tate &
Lyle operates more than 41 plants and 20 additional production facilities in 28
countries, almost all in Europe and the Americas. It employs 6,700 people in its
subsidiaries with a further 4,800 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the year
to 31 March 2004 totalled £3,167 million. More details are available on this
website www.tateandlyle.com.

SPLENDA(R) is a trademark of McNeil-PPC, Inc.