De La Rue is the world’s leading printer and manufacturer of commercial banknotes and passports. The company mainly works in partnership with governments, commercial organizations, and central banks around the world.
De La Rue is involved in the production of more than 150 currencies and produces passport and identity systems in more than 60 countries. The company says on its website that it is “the only fully integrated suppliers of both paper and polymer banknotes and creates security features that ensure banknotes are protected against counterfeiting.”
De La Rue is based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, and is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange and forms part of the FTSE 250 Index. It has a total of approximately 4,000 employees.
De La Rue has two main business divisions:
Its Currency division offers a wide range of products that are sold individually or as a whole. This includes the design, production and distribution of security components, the production of banknotes, and the manufacturing of paper and polymer substrates.
Its Solutions division offers a similar array of design and manufacturing solutions as well as specialist services and software solutions. Including products such as government identity schemes, cash management processing solutions, and product authentication systems.
History of De La Rue
The history of De La Rue traces back to 1813 with Thomas de la Rue’s first commercial venture when the first edition of the Le Miroir Politique newspaper was published.
In 1821 Thomas de la Rue established himself in London as a manufacturer of fine goods, in addition to being involved in printing, stationery.
In 1831 Thomas de la Rue was given a Royal Letters Patent from King William IV for his work on manufacturing playing cards using a new process known as the typographical method.
By 1846 the company became known for inventing the envelope folding machine, which could produce 2,700 envelopes within an hour.
In 1855 De La Rue the UK’s Board of Inland Revenue contracted the company to print adhesive fiscal stamps. Two years later De la Rue began printing postage stamps.
The first paper money produced by De La Rue was printed in 1860 – the Mauritius £5, £1 and 10 shilling notes.
Over the following few decades the company was contracted by multiple different countries to print paper currency. In 1930 De la Rue built a factory in Shanghai to produce banknotes.
In 1947 the company went public on the London Stock Exchange. A decade later it marketed a banknote counting machine.
De La Rue House in Basingstoke was officially opened as the company’s headquarters in 1990.
In 2009 the company secured a 10 year contract to produce the UK passport. The same year The Bank of England renewed the contract with De La Rue to continue printing the pound sterling.
Financial Results – 2018 and 2017
- Revenue – 2018: £493.9m, 2017: £461.7m
- Dividend per share – 2018: 25.0p, 2017: 25.0p
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Adjusted EBITDA – 2018: £87.3m, 2017: £97.4m
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Reported EBITDA – 2018: £148.2m, 2017: £96.0m
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Adjusted operating profit – 2018: £62.8m, 2017: £70.7m
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Reported operating profit – 2018: £123.0m, 2017: £70.2m
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Adjusted basic earnings per share – 2018: 42.9p, 2017: 47.1p
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Reported basic earnings per share from continuing operations – 2018: 93.7p, 2017: 47.2p