Shares in bank note printer De La Rue more than doubled as the firm announced demand for its currencies, despite people switching to card payments to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The firm, which has a plant in Gateshead as well as bases in Basingstoke, Debden and Bathford, also told shareholders it has signed a five year deal to supply polycarbonate data pages for the new Australian passport, which follows an agreement with Note Printing Australia four years ago in which it developed new security features.
It said demand for its currencies remains strong, even as people switch to card payments to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The company said it had contracts in place that would keep its currency factories working at high capacity for the rest of the year.
It said: “In currency, De La Rue is experiencing strong demand that has continued during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been awarded contracts representing approximately 80% of its available full-year currency printing capacity.”
People around the world are being encouraged to pay by card, especially through contactless methods when possible, to avoid handing over, and receiving, potentially contaminated cash.
Last week, PayPoint revealed that the card payments it processes had shot up by three quarters, while transactions at its cash machines fell by 40% compared with this time last year.
It also said its expertise in brand protection had led it to be selected by an international customer to authenticate and protect its COVID-19 testing kits that are being shipped around the world.
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The firm has also developed existing physical and digital solutions to provide a COVID-19 immunity certification scheme.
De La Rue’s struggling shares jumped 124% to 91.3p on the news by lunchtime, as it also revealed it had not been severely hit by the pandemic.
To date, in this financial year, De La Rue said its authentication division has been awarded contracts worth more than £100m over their lifetime, and that it is also seeing strong demand in its currency division that has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The currency division has been awarded contracts representing around 80% of its available full-year currency printing capacity.
Meanwhile, it said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a limited impact on the company’s operations. It said it has put in place relevant protective, regulatory and safety procedures for all employees, including home working, and there has been limited impact on its global service, support and operations activities.
De La Rue factories have run continually throughout the period, except for an eight-week shutdown of the Sri Lanka facility, which returned to full production this month and is working to make up the production shortfall.
Timescales for a small number of Government Revenue Solution contracts have been extended but they have been more than offset positively by its recent contract wins,
De La Rue’s full year results for the year ended March 28 2020 will be announced later this month, but it said its expectations for the financial year 2019/20 remain unchanged from guidance given in March, when it said it expected adjusted operating profit to be between £20m and £25m.