DE LA RUE ‘ON BRINK’ WITH £12m LOSS

THE firm that prints Britain’s bank notes has warned it could collapse.

De La Rue said failure to secure a turnaround could lead to “material uncertainty” about its future.

Shares in the near 200-year-old firm crashed by more than a fifth on the back of the threat.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at the website Markets.com, warned De La

Rue was “teetering on the brink”.

De La Rue makes about a third of the world’s bank notes and employs more than 2500 people.

All Bank of England bank notes are printed at the firm’s plant in Debden, Essex. It also has a factory in Gateshead in Tyne and Wear.

However, it has suffered a torrid couple of years, which include a Serious Fraud Office investigation into suspected

FIRMS’ confidence in the UK economy has dropped to the lowest level since mid-2016, according to data from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. corruption in South Sudan, and the loss of its UK passport printing contract.

Declines in cash usage also hit the business, which yesterday announced it plunged from a £7.1million profit to a £12.1m loss during the six months to the end of September, with revenue down 14.9 per cent to £205.9million.

Bosses suspended all future dividends as debts soared from £107million to £170million. Chief executive Clive Vacher vowed to make De La Rue a “leaner, more efficient company”.

Louisa Bull, national officer at the union Unite, said: “This is very worrying news today and we are seeking urgent clarification from the company about the future.

“The potentially precarious future of De La Rue, a major UK manufacturing company, should be ringing alarm bells across government.”