De La Rue delivers better than expected half-year earnings after currency demand rebound

Banknote printer De La Rue has recorded a better-than-expected first half and revealed a more than doubling of its currency order book since September on a recovery in global demand.
Greg Wright
By Greg Wright
Published 19th Dec 2023, 08:35 BST

The group, which prints banknotes for the Bank of England and other central banks across the world, posted an underlying operating profit of £7.9m for the six months to September 30.

This was down from £9.3m a year ago but better than its expectations of breakeven.

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On a statutory basis, pre-tax losses widened to £16.8m from £15.9m a year earlier.

De La Rue prints banknotes for the Bank of England and other central banks across the world. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Wire)De La Rue prints banknotes for the Bank of England and other central banks across the world. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Wire)
De La Rue prints banknotes for the Bank of England and other central banks across the world. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Wire)

It said the recovery in demand for currency has seen orders jump to £219.8m from £105.4m since the half-year alone.

The currency bounce back is being driven by inflation, meaning goods and services cost more, and governments have largely run down the stocks built up during the pandemic.

But the group kept its full-year outlook unchanged, for underlying earnings “in the early £20m range” as it cautioned over “a number of significant operational uncertainties” in its two main divisions.

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Clive Vacher, chief executive of De La Rue, said: “De La Rue’s robust performance in the first half reflects the important actions that we have taken since 2020 to make the company resilient to changing market conditions.

“These actions have allowed us to navigate a downturn over the past 18 months, particularly in currency, and I am pleased that the market is now showing signs of continuing recovery.”

Related topics:Bank of England

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