AGM Statement

Tate & Lyle PLC
27 July 2000

         Tate & Lyle PLC - Chairman's Annual General Meeting Statement



At the Annual General Meeting of Tate & Lyle PLC in London today, Sir David
Lees, Chairman, made the following statement on current trading:

'At the announcement of the Group's preliminary results on 8th June, I said
that it would be unwise to assume any immediate improvement in market
conditions, particularly as they relate to US Sugar.

Group trading in the quarter just ended has proved this caution to be
justified.   After a better than expected April, conditions in US sugar have
worsened and losses continue at a higher level than expected due both to lower
margins and reduced demand for speciality products. Profitability at Staley
has also deteriorated in the last two months. Volumes were below expectation
and margins have come under pressure due to reduced by-product revenues and
higher input costs. Trading in the rest of the Group has been in line with
plan.
   
The outlook for the first half of the 2001 financial year is that profit
before tax and exceptional items will be below the £82 million achieved in the
six months to March 2000.
    
Looking further forward we expect a higher level of profitability in the
second half of the year. The Group will increasingly benefit from existing
cost reduction and efficiency programmes, and from lower costs of raw
material. This, however, will not off-set the disappointing results of the
first half so that we expect the results for the full year to March 2001 to
fall short of current market expectations.'


Enquiries:

Charles King       020-7626-6525
Chris Fox          020-7626-6525 (Press)