Signs of Recovery as De La Rue Resolves Financial Issues

De la Rue has announced its results for the financial year ending March 2023. These were eagerly awaited following a trading update issued by the company April (see CN April 2023).

The company reiterated its guidance for FY24 and highlighted that its independent auditors had removed any material uncertainty with respect to going concern in the accounts. Actions taken since 2019 means that its Currency division is more resilient, as evidenced by remaining profitable at an adjusted operating profits level despite FY23 coinciding with a significant downturn in the currency market that impacted all suppliers.

Revenue of £349.7 million was 6.8% below that of the previous year. Adjusted operating profit of £27.8 million was in line with the guidance provided in April and £8.6 million (23.6%) below the £36.4 million achieved in FY22. The operating result using IFRS accounting was a loss for continuing operations of £29.6 million, compared with an operating profit of £24.2 million in FY22, reflecting exceptional costs in FY23 of £47.1 million (of which £29.7 million were non-cash charges).