British banknote printer De La Rue has today retained its forecast for annual adjusted operating profit, supported by recovery in bid activity and strong demand in its authentication business.
The London-listed firm expects full-year adjusted operating profit to come in the lower-band of their range, and said there was no 'material uncertainty' in its ability to continue as a going concern.
De La Rue has struggled in recent years, issuing a string of profit warnings, encountering operational problems in a number of key markets, and seeing a slump in demand for cash as governments and central banks all over the world delayed new orders.
Still, a ray of hope comes from the increasing focus on polymer notes and the strength in the company's authentication business, which designs and makes secure documents as well as security features such as holograms to authenticate goods.
"Following a significant downturn in currency demand over the past 18 months, we have witnessed encouraging signs of recovery with strong bid activity, a positive win rate, and the significant majority of FY24 banknote print volume already contracted," chief executive Clive Vacher said in a statement.
The company's first-half adjusted operating profit is likely to broadly break-even, due to the timing of currency recovery.
Adjusted operating profit for the year ended March 25 stood at £27.8m, compared with £36.4m a year earlier.
Annual revenue fell to £349.7m from £375.1m the same time last year.
