Printer’s contract wrangle goes on

Banknote printer De La Rue yesterday warned the full impact of a suspended contract was still not known as it revealed the ongoing woes were behind a 61 per cent slide in half-year profits.

By The Newsroom

Published 23rd Nov 2011, 06:00 BST

The firm, which prints notes for the Bank of England and 150 other countries, reported bottom line pre-tax profits of £27.1m in the six months to September 24, compared to £69.4m the previous year.

The company said it had suffered a £23.3m hit in the period relating to the contract, which was suspended in July 2010 and is widely understood to be with the Reserve Bank of India.

But De La Rue added that the full financial consequences, such as potential costs of any resolution or potential fines from regulatory authorities, cannot be estimated. The company suspended the contract after it was claimed employees had falsified paper specification test certificates.

De La Rue has sites in the UK at Overton in Hampshire, where the problems with the bank note contact surfaced, as well as Loughton in Essex, Gateshead, Bathford near Bath and Westhoughton, Lancashire.