Tate and Lyle is a global company providing ingredients and solutions to the food and beverage industry.

It operates through two business units. The ‘speciality food ingredients’ division produces sweeteners, texturants and food ingredients while the ‘bulk ingredients’ division manufactures and markets a range of products including liquid sweeteners, starch and ethanol.

Miah said now is an exciting time for the group as the management have stated they are “right where we want to be” in regards to strategic targets and transformation into a speciality ingredients company.

On future expectations for the speciality food division, it aims to contribute around 70% of group profits, with 30% of sales from emerging markets and $200m of sales from new products by 2020.

“The company’s most recent results demonstrate this confidence,’ Miah said.

In May, it reported a profit of £126m on the back of revenue of £2.35bn, new product sales increased by 34% and the strengthening of the balance sheet continued with net debt reduced by £121m.

Further, a trading update last month reassured investors that profit for the first quarter was ahead of the same period last year and that it expects earnings to “increase strongly” if the pound remains weak.

Miah said: “There is a growing conviction for an improvement in the quality of earnings, as a result of some major structural change initiatives. We have noted the improved performance of the shares year-to-date, which indicates that market confidence is growing regarding the group’s plans through to 2020.

“We therefore recommend Tate and Lyle as a ‘buy’ for medium- to high-risk investors with a balanced portfolio.”