REG - De La Rue PLC - Pension Scheme funding update

De La RueAnnouncement

03/03/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4482D  De La Rue PLC  03 March 2022

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated by the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No.596/2014, as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement, this
inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

3 March
2022
 

 

DE LA RUE PLC

REVISED PENSION SCHEME ACTUARIAL VALUATION & DEFICIT CONTRIBUTION PLAN

De La Rue plc (LSE: DLAR) ("De La Rue") today announces it has entered into
agreement with De La Rue Pension Trustee Limited (the "Trustee") to bring
forward an actuarial valuation of the De La Rue Pension Scheme ("the Scheme")
as at 5 April 2021, rather than the originally scheduled date of 31 December
2022.

The results of the latest 5 April 2021 actuarial valuation show a reduced
Scheme deficit of £119.5m.  This compares with the schedule of deficit
repair contributions, agreed with the Trustee in May 2020, totalling
approximately £177m from April 2021 to March 2029.   As a result of this
new valuation, the Scheme Actuary has confirmed that the deficit can be funded
through contributions remaining flat at £15m per annum from April 2022 to
March 2029.

Therefore, the Company and the Trustees have agreed a new schedule that avoids
the 'step up' in contributions from £15m to £24.5m for the period April 2023
to March 2029.  The Company will make deficit repair contributions of £15m
annually during that period.  In aggregate, this agreement will result in a
£57m reduction in cash payments to the Scheme by De La Rue.

To enable the bringing forward of the actuarial valuation, the relevant De La
Rue group companies that are guarantors to the Group's principal Bank Facility
Agreement have entered into a guarantee with the Trustee that provides the
Scheme with an equal "pari passu" guarantor recourse ranking to the Bank
Facility Agreement.  Additionally, De La Rue has committed to engage with the
Trustee should the Company be considering any significant transactions that
may potentially lead to material detriment to the Scheme and the Trustee will
have a consent right where De La Rue incurs priority financial indebtedness
beyond that permitted by its principal banking facilities (as they may be
refinanced or replaced from time to time).  Finally, De La Rue has confirmed
its support in principle to both medium and long-term strategic objectives of
the Trustee in terms of partial buy-in / full buy-out of the Scheme, subject
to appropriate pricing and commercial terms.

Clive Vacher, Chief Executive Officer of De La Rue said, "I am delighted that
we have reached agreement with the Trustee that continues to honour the
commitments we made back in 2020 to pay off the Scheme deficit by 2029, and
also introduces further substantial protections for members of the Scheme.
At the same time, a £57m reduction in cash contributions to the Scheme will
clearly benefit the Group's projected future cash generation".

De La Rue plc's LEI code is 213800DH741LZWIJXP78.

 

Enquiries:

 De La Rue plc        +44 (0) 7990 337707
 Clive Vacher         Chief Executive Officer
 Rob Harding          Chief Financial Officer
 Louise Rich          Head of Investor Relations

 Brunswick            +44 (0)207 404 5959
 Stuart Donnelly
 Ed Brown

 

 

The person responsible for the release of this announcement on behalf of De La
Rue for the purposes of MAR is Jane Hyde (General Counsel and Company
Secretary).

 

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

 

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be,
"forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms
"believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "goal",
"target", "aim", "may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each case,
their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These
forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts.
They appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include
statements regarding the intentions, beliefs or current expectations of the
directors, De La Rue or the Group concerning, amongst other things, the
results of operations, profitability, financial condition, liquidity,
prospects, growth and strategies of De La Rue and the industry in which it
operates.

 

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not
occur in the future and may be beyond De La Rue's ability to control or
predict. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.
The Group's actual results of operations, profitability, financial condition,
liquidity, prospects, growth and/or strategy and the development of the
industry in which it operates may differ materially from the impression
created by the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. In
addition, even if the results of operations, profitability, financial
condition, liquidity, prospects, growth and/or strategy of the Group and the
development of the industry in which it operates are consistent with the
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, those results or
developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent
periods.

 

Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations, De La Rue
does not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.

 

 

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