2014 AGM Chairman's Statement and IMS

RNS Number : 1695N

De La Rue PLC

24 July 2014

 

2014 AGM Chairman's Statement and

Interim Management Statement

At De La Rue plc's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") being held today, the Chairman, Philip Rogerson, will make the following statement which comprises the Group's Interim Management Statement for the period from 30 March 2014 to today's date:

First Quarter Trading

"The Group's trading performance during the period was satisfactory and at the end of the first quarter the Group had a good 12 month order book.

In Currency, order intake has been good but continues to reflect the challenging market conditions.

In Solutions, overall trading was in line with our expectations.  Within the Identity Systems business the contribution is lower than the previous year reflecting an unusually high number of contract completions in the corresponding period, as previously advised, and a slower than expected ramp up on recent contract wins.  Good progress continues to be made in restructuring the Cash Processing Solutions business which has a target of achieving breakeven this financial year.

Dividend 

Subject to shareholder approval at today's AGM, the proposed final dividend for the period ended 29 March 2014 of 28.2p per ordinary share will be paid on 1 August 2014 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 4 July 2014.

Chief Executive Succession

Good progress has been made in identifying a new Chief Executive with some strong candidates being considered.

Outlook

Based on current production and shipment schedules agreed with customers we expect the financial performance of the Group to have a higher than usual weighting towards the second half of the 2014/15 year.

With a satisfactory first quarter performance, together with a good order book and a pipeline of order opportunities, which must of course be secured for delivery in the current year, the Board's expectations for 2014/15 remain unchanged."

- ends -

23 July 2014

Enquiries:

De La Rue plc		[phone]
Philip Rogerson	Chairman
Colin Child	Chief Operating Officer and Group Finance Director
Rob Hutchison	Group Director of Communications
Brunswick		[phone]
Jon Coles
Oliver Hughes

NOTES TO EDITORS

De La Rue is the world's largest commercial banknote printer and passport manufacturer and is a trusted partner of governments, central banks and commercial organisations around the world.  In recent years De La Rue has been involved in the production of over 150 national currencies, and passports or identity systems for over 65 countries. De La Rue's Currency division provides customers with a full range of sophisticated products and services which are available either individually or as a whole. This includes design, production of security components, manufacture of paper and polymer substrates and printing of banknotes. Within the Solutions division, a similar integrated offering from design to manufacture is available.  In addition, De La Rue offers a range of specialist services and software solutions, including government identity documents and schemes, product authentication systems and cash management processing solutions, that includes high speed cash sorting and banknote inspection equipment. De La Rue employs approximately 4,000 people worldwide and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

 

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