LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - British food ingredients firmTate & Lyle PLC said on Thursday that it still expectsflat earnings for the year ended 31 March due to a dramatic dropin prices of its sucralose sweetener and weak soft drink salesin the United States.
The company, which sells sucralose under the Splenda brandas well as other sweeteners, said its specialty food ingredientbusiness should report strong volume growth in emerging marketsand Europe, though profits in the division will be crimped by amuch more competitive market for sucralose.
The company said its bulk ingredients business should reportlower full-year profit, due to weak soft drink sales in theUnited States, which reduced demand for corn syrup. (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; editing by JasonNeely)