Tate & Lyle says demand improved in June as venues opened up after lockdowns

(Reuters) - Food ingredients maker Tate & Lyle Plc <TATE.L> said on Thursday demand improved in June compared to the previous two months as coronavirus restrictions eased and more restaurants, bars, cinemas and other public facilities opened.

Tate & Lyle said demand started to recover sequentially during the quarter as some U.S. states began to ease lockdown restrictions.

Remaining cautious, the company said the full extent of the pandemic's impact still remained unclear.

Tate & Lyle's tone is in line with the world's largest soda maker Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>, which said earlier this week demand for its beverages was improving after reporting a 28% slump in sales in the "most challenging" quarter of the year.

The British company, one of the world's biggest producers of sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, posted a 5% drop year-on-year in revenue for the three months ended June 30.

Revenue at its primary products division, which makes high-volume sweeteners and industrial starches, fell 9% to 420 million pounds ($535.21 million), with North American bulk sweetener volume 12% lower reflecting fewer people eating outside their homes.

(This story has been corrected to say 5% fall in revenue, not revenue growth, in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)