De La Rue delivers good FY performance

De La Rue said it delivered a good performance for the year to 25 March, with both revenue and profit ahead as dividend was held steady.

"We are two years into our five year strategic plan and have made solid progress against our objectives to diversify the business and improve the quality of earnings," said chief executive Martin Sutherland.

"Identity Solutions and Product Authentication are both delivering good growth and are underpinned by the resilience of our Currency business," he said.

The company's investment in product management and research & development had seen it introduce six new products into its pipeline, including DLR Analytics, a software solution to help central banks manage their cash cycle requirements.

"We are already piloting with 26 countries at launch," said Sutherland.

In January, De La Rue completed its first acquisition in 14 years, DuPont Authentication being a business with a strong intellectual property portfolio, global blue-chip customers and a committed and experienced workforce.

"This transaction further strengthens our position in the strategically important and growing product authentication market," said Sutherland.

"With continuing good momentum in delivering our 2020 strategic plan and a strong 12 month order book of £387m, I am confident that we will deliver on our expectations for the (2018) year."

Reported pre-tax profit for the year was £58.2m, up from £54.9m. Dividend per share was 25p and unchanged on the year. Revenue was £461.7m, up from £454.5m.

At 13:42 BST, shares in De La Rue were up 1.32% to 655p each.