(Adds background, comment by analyst)
LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - British food ingredients firmTate & Lyle PLC expects to report flat earnings for theyear just ended, it said on Thursday, due to a dramatic drop inprices of its sucralose sweetener and weak soft drink sales inthe 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.
It warned of the drop in sucralose prices in February, whenit reported weaker than expected third-quarter results and cutits forecast for the full year ending March 31, sending itsshares tumbling.
The company expects to announce the full results on 29 May.
Analysts now expect adjusted profit of 327.3 million pounds,according to the company's own survey. That is in line with lastyear's performance, and down from a consensus of 340 millionpounds before the third-quarter warning.
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, andlingering severe cold weather that hurt performance in thefourth quarter. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Jason Neely and GregMahlich)