Bank of England likely to extend De La Rue money printing licence
A licence to print money looks set to continue at banknote printer De La Rue, as the Bank of England (BoE) yesterday announced the Basingstoke based firm was its preferred bidder for a contract to print sterling banknotes.
De La Rue, which first printed banknotes in 1860 for Mauritius, began printing banknotes for the BoE in 2003 after the process was outsourced, and now looks very likely to continue with a new 10-year contract to start printing April 2015.
De La Rue will print £20 and £50 notes on paper for the BoE, while £5 and £10 notes will be printed on plastic, with polymer material supplied by Innovia Security.
FTSE 250 listed De La Rue is the largest commercial banknote printer and passport manufacturer in the world, involved in the design or production of over 150 national currencies, and delivery of over 15 million passports a year worldwide.
De La Rue’s share price rose 4.17 per cent yesterday to finish on 774p.