Banknote maker De la Rue cut its full-year profit outlook after supply chain disruption and the pandemic hampered its restructuring, sending shares in the group down by almost 30 per cent on Monday.
The Basingstoke-based group said it expected adjusted operating profit of £36m-£40m for the year to March 26, “broadly similar” to its previous financial year but below the market consensus of £45m-£47m.
Shares in the company were down 27 per cent at 108p in early trading on Monday.
The company said the forces will slow also hit profits the following financial year, though it expected to deliver “significant growth” year on year.
The revised guidance shows “substantial” growth in its core businesses of currency and authentication, which are expected to be in the range of 35 to 45 per cent, from the £27.5m the units generated in the same period a year earlier.
Since the group reported its half-year earnings, the challenges mostly related to the Covid-19 pandemic “have become more pronounced”, it said.
Coronavirus variants Omicron and Delta increased employee absences “substantially” in De La Rue’s global manufacturing facilities, which it forecast would result in lower total operational output for the full year.
The group has also been hit by supply chain shortages in chips and other raw materials as well as rising costs.
The challenges will mean about a 12-month delay to its turnround plan, which it announced in February 2020.
