Shares in De La Rue slumped over 26% to a near 15-year low after the world's largest commercial designer and printer of passports and banknotes warned operating profit would fall this year.
It also said today that its chief executive would step down.
The downbeat statement from the group contrasts to a year ago when it said the sale of its struggling paper business and technology investments would help it recover from a profit plunge.
Last year the company lost the contract for Britain's new blue passports.
It announced cost cuts aimed at saving more than £20m by fiscal year 2022 and said it would reorganise its business to sharpen its focus on currency and authentication services.
Martin Sutherland had agreed to step down as chief executive after nearly five years in the post and a process to identify a successor had begun, De La Rue said today.
It did not say if he would get a payoff but said further details of his remuneration would be published later on its website.
De La Rue, which produces passports for 40 countries, also took a one-off £18.1m charge related to a Venezuelan customer unable to transfer funds due to sanctions imposed on the country.
The company said its margin will be impacted by competitive pressures in banknote printing and it expected operating profit for the current year would be "somewhat lower" than the previous year.
De La Rue lost the contract to make blue UK passports, announced after the vote to leave the EU in 2016, to Franco-Dutch digital security group Gemalto, leading to a £3.7m pound write-off.
Its contract to make UK passports, worth £400m, expires in July.
De La Rue has recently secured a contract with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to implement a track-and-trace system for all tobacco products sold in the UK.
It also won a contract with Saudi Arabia to implement and operate a digital tax stamp system for all tobacco products and soft drinks sold in the country.
The company reported a 6% rise in adjusted operating profit for the year ended March 31 to £60.1m, on revenue up 12% to £516.6m.
Analysts on average had expected adjusted operating profit of £62.2m, according to company compiled estimates.
