AGM Statement

Tate & Lyle PLC
2 August 2001


Date:              Thursday 2 August 2001


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 results on 7th June I said that our
immediate priorities were to complete the disposals of Western Sugar and
Domino Sugar and to improve the performance of Amylum.

The sale of Western to the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Co-operative, also
announced on the 7th June, remains subject to the Co-operative completing
their financing arrangements.

The conditional sale of Domino Sugar announced last week is in line with the
assumptions made when the accounts for the year to 31 March 2001 were
finalised. Completion is conditional upon, inter alia, the buyers completing
their financing and US competition authority approval, which may take several
months.

The level of losses sustained in the first quarter of the financial year in US
sugar has been higher than in the comparative period to June 2000 and shows no
immediate signs of abating.

In most of the ongoing activities of the Group, including Amylum, underlying
trading in the first quarter of the financial year has been close to or has
exceeded plan. The main exception has been Staley's Citric Acid division,
where pricing levels have been adversely impacted by Asian imports.  We have
intensified our cost reduction efforts, including the recently announced 40%
reduction in the workforce at our Mexican facility. Price increases at Staley
and Amylum announced on 6 February 2001 have had a beneficial impact on
results. Energy costs have stabilised, albeit at higher levels than in the
comparative period.

The profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation of the
Group, excluding US sugar, for the first quarter was in line with the profit
in the comparative period.

In the outlook paragraph in my statement in the Annual Report I said that we
had reasons to view the current year with greater confidence. Given the
underlying trading to date and progress on strategic issues, that view remains
unchanged.

In conclusion, may I remind you of the three elements of our core strategy.
They are:

To continue to develop higher margin and higher growth carbohydrate-based
products, building on the Group's technology strengths in our global starch
business.

To continue to rationalise our portfolio of assets and ensure that all
retained assets produce acceptable returns.  We will divest businesses that do
not contribute value creation or which no longer fit with the Group's
strategy.

To continue to drive out costs in our aim to become the low cost producer in
all the markets we serve.


Enquiries:    Mark Robinson              020 7626 6525
              Chris Fox (Press)          020 7626 6525 (office)
                                         or 0780 1808 553 (mobile)