Banknote printer De La Rue reports £90m profit, despite currency and pricing strains
De La Rue, the world’s largest commercial banknote printer, has reported a 43 per cent increase in underlying operating profit, to £90.5m.
Chairman Philip Rogerson said that trading’s remained strong, despite “a more challenging currency market”.
Over the full year to 29 March, revenue rose six per cent to £513.3m.
Banknote print volumes were similar to the year before at £6.2bn, with paper volumes up 10 per cent to 9,600 tonnes. That's despite the ongoing overcapacity in the banknote paper market which, says the firm, has meant a “more difficult” pricing environment.
De La Rue has been focusing on implementing an improvement plan which, it says, has helped it grow profits from £40m to £90m since 2010. Says Rogerson:
De La Rue is in fundamentally better shape today and with a culture of continuous improvement embedded in our business there will be further efficiencies ahead.
We entered the new financial year with a good order book albeit reflecting the recent more difficult pricing environment in the Currency market. The Board's expectations for 2014/15 remain unchanged.