Tate & Lyle reduces pension risk

Sweeteners and food products giant Tate & Lyle has agreed to a 347m-pound partial pensioner buy-in which covers nearly half of its total pensioner liabilities.

The firm said that the trustee of the its group pension scheme has made the agreement with financial services giant Legal & General about the buy-in which covers around 43% of its commitments, "which effectively hedges these liabilities in full".

"Tate & Lyle is committed to meeting our pension commitments to existing and former colleagues," said Chief Financial Officer Tim Lodge.

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"We are delighted the group scheme trustee has secured this agreement with L&G, well known as a high-quality long-standing annuity provider. This transaction is an important step in our strategy to work with our schemes' trustees and fiduciaries to reduce pension risk on a phased basis over time."

The company said that the buy-in involves the purchase of a bulk annuity policy under which L&G will pay to the trustee amounts equivalent to the benefits payable to three out of every seven of the scheme's pensioner members.

Tate & Lyle said that there will be not material impact on its cash flows or 'adjusted' earnings as a result of the deal.

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