Banknote printing firm De La Rue has indicated it is on the cusp of finally winding up operations at its Gateshead factory, three years after announcing the closure of its main function.
The currency and passport printing specialist said most activity at the Team Valley site had now stopped with work ongoing to "relocate the remaining functions as soon as practicable". In new half year results for the six months to the end of September the firm said it had booked a further £100,000 of restructuring costs, in addition to £300,000 of charges in the same period last year.
De La Rue originally announced the end of banknote printing on Tyneside in 2020 when 250 jobs were put at risk. The move followed an earlier decision by the Government to award Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto with a contract to print UK passports.
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The Gateshead factory - which has a sizeable plot on the edge of the Team Valley trading estate - at one time employed more than 600 people, producing more than 2bn notes a year in currencies for 25 countries. The plant had operated for more than 50 years.
Amidst its latest figures, De La Rue said it was relocating assets including to its manufacturing site in Malta which provides tax stamps, authentication labels, banknotes and polycarbonate data pages. The firm's currency division saw losses of £5m over the period on the back of £6.9m of costs relating to restructuring which included the UK and the winding down of a factory in Kenya.
Overall revenue if the first half fell 1.7% to £161.5m as pre-tax losses widened to £16.8m, from £15.9m in the same period last year. Meanwhile IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) operating losses shrank by 73% to £3.4m.
Clive Whiley, chairman of De La Rue, added: "Upon my appointment as chairman in May this year, it soon became clear that De La Rue was struggling to balance conflicting stakeholder objectives, alongside associated professional fees which were suffocating the nascent recovery emanating from the foundations laid by the turnaround plan initiated in 2020, making a continuation of the deterioration in the market rating almost inevitable.
"Since then I have sought to provide aircover to allow the reinforced executive management team to complete an in-depth review of the fundamentals of De La Rue's business, designed to arm the board with the information necessary to gauge the core strategic strengths of the group, of which there are many. The interim results released this morning represent demonstrable progress with adjusted operating profit ahead of guidance, lower net debt, pension deficit repair contributions reduced by £28m over the next three years, significantly enhanced contract win rates and renewed confidence within the management team."
