De La Rue 'on track' for second year of turnaround plan

De La Rue said on Thursday that its expectations for the current 2022 financial year remained unchanged, with the company “on track” to deliver the second year of its turnaround plan.

The London-listed security printing specialist, which was holding its annual general meeting, said its cost reduction programme, amounting to £36m of cumulative cost savings over the 2020 cost base, would have a full year's impact for the first time in the 2022 period.

That would include around £7m of incremental savings compared to the 2021 financial year.

“In currency, De La Rue continues to experience strong demand and is building an order book in line with its expectations for growth,” the board said in its statement.

“The mix of business is also positive.

“The programme to grow its polymer substrate activity, including more than doubling production capacity, is on track, and worldwide demand for the group's ‘Safeguard’ polymer is developing in line with forecasts.”

In authentication, the company said both the government revenue solutions (GRS) and its brand businesses were on track to meet expectations.

“De La Rue has secured a further multi-year GRS award since the full year results in May, and the pipeline of contract opportunities remains robust.

“Implementation of existing contracts is in line with expectations, and recently won contracts will contribute to growth in the second half of the current financial year.”

At 0940 BST, shares in De La Rue were up 0.39% at 173.28p.