De La Rue revenue rises as currency business performs well

Banknote manufacturer De La Rue reported a rise in first-half revenues and profit on Tuesday on the back of strong growth in the currency business.

In the 27 weeks to the end of September, revenue was up 29% to £244.7m, with a good performance across all product lines, while adjusted operating profit came in at £26.6m, up from £24m in the same period a year ago.

Revenue in the currency division was 36% higher at £185.3m, driven by significant volume increases in both banknote print and paper. Banknote paper volumes were up 36% to 7,200 tonnes, while banknote print volumes rose 6% to 3.5bn notes and polymer volumes were up 570% to 400 tonnes.

Meanwhile, revenue in Identity Solutions and Product Authentication & Traceability rose 3% and 20% to £39.4m and £20.2m, respectively.

De La Rue said its 12-month order book stood at £363m as at September, versus £406m the year before, mostly due to the timing of orders.

Chief executive officer Martin Sutherland said: "De La Rue has performed well in the first half, driven by strong growth in the Currency business and we have continued to make good progress against our strategic plan.

"The strong revenue growth in the first half, driven by high volumes of lower margin banknote paper and print orders, reflects the lumpy nature of contracts. Performance in the second half is expected to be broadly in line with the same period last year. Overall, our outlook for the year remains unchanged."

At 1255 GMT, the shares were down 0.9% to 639.50p.