REG - De La Rue PLC - Statement re Kenya and India

De La RueAnnouncement

20/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 3301N  De La Rue PLC  20 January 2023

 

 

20 January 2023

 

 

DE LA RUE PLC PROVIDES UPDATE ON LEGACY ISSUES IN KENYA AND INDIA

De La Rue plc (LSE: DLAR) ("De La Rue", the "Group" or the "Company") provides
an update on recent developments related to structure and legacy issues in
Kenya and India.

Kenya

De La Rue today provides the following update on the Company's activities in
Kenya, that are now conducted through a joint venture with the Government of
Kenya, in which the Government of Kenya holds a 40% equity share.

Owing to current global market demand, and no expectation of new banknote
orders from the Central Bank of Kenya for at least the next 12 months, De La
Rue Kenya has suspended banknote printing operations in the country.  De La
Rue continues to operate with three banknote sites in the UK, Malta and Sri
Lanka.  This is a reduction from five sites operating in 2020 and further
serves to adjust the capacity to current market demand, while retaining the
capability to scale up operations when market demand recovers.  The expansion
of our factory in Malta, which will increase capacity in both Currency and
Authentication, remains unaffected by this decision and continues as
previously planned.

Importantly, the joint venture between De La Rue and the Government of Kenya
remains active, and the Company continues to explore further business
opportunities, both in Kenya and for export from Kenya, with a view to
restarting production if the economic climate permits.

The suspension of activities at De La Rue Kenya does not affect the previous
guidance provided related to current year financial performance.

In addition, on 13 January 2023, the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya dismissed an
appeal from a De La Rue subsidiary in Kenya related to a historical tax issue,
equating to approximately £7.2m at today's exchange rate.  De La Rue is
disappointed with the ruling and its Kenya subsidiary is preparing an appeal
to the Court of Appeal.

India

De La Rue has been made aware that the Central Bureau of Investigation in
India (CBI-I) has launched an investigation into the conduct of Arvind
Mayaram, the former Indian Finance Secretary, in which the historical
activities of De La Rue in India prior to 2016 have been implicated.  The
Company has not received any official direct communication of this
investigation from the CBI-I, but has learned about it from publicly-available
sources.

De La Rue has not served the Government of India or the Central Bank of India
in any capacity since 2016.  The Company believes that there is no merit to
the allegations that relate to De La Rue and is seeking legal advice in this
regard.

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

About De La Rue

 

De La Rue plc's purpose is to secure trust between people, businesses and
governments. As a trusted partner of governments, central banks and commercial
organisations seeking to secure their global supply chains and cash
cycles, De La Rue provides highly secure physical and digital solutions that
underpin the integrity of economies and trade.

De La Rue's Currency division provides market-leading end-to-end currency
solutions, from finished banknotes to secure polymer substrate and banknote
security features to over half the central banks and issuing authorities
around the world.

Our Authentication division protects revenues and reputations through the
provision of physical and digital solutions to governments and commercial
organisations. We also manufacture ID security components.

As at 31 December 2022 De La Rue had 1,900 employees who work with
organisations in more than 140 countries, leveraging the group's manufacturing
facilities in the UK, US, Malta, Sri Lanka and Kenya.

De La Rue's shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:DLAR). For
further information please visit www.delarue.com
(https://checkpoint.url-protection.com/v1/url?o=http://www.delarue.com/&g=ODlkYzkxYjY4MTcyYzBhYw==&h=Y2UzYjE4MmQ0ZGYzOTlmZmU3OGY2ZjZiMTlmZGE1OGNkMDQ2ZjI1ODAzNTQyYzc2ZjhhYjAzMjU5NjA5MTM0Nw==&p=Y3AxZTpkZWxhcnVlMTYzMDUwMzk1MDQxOTpjOm86ZjI2MDZhMzFlYTQ5YTM3NDMyYjk2NWU2MjNiNzk0YTA6djE6cDpU)
.

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", "may",
"will", "could", "shall", "risk", "aims", "predicts", "continues", "assumes",
"positioned" 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, 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 known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and
depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not outside
the control of the Company. Past performance cannot be relied upon as a guide
to future performance and should not be taken as a representation or assurance
that trends or activities underlying past performance will continue in the
future. Accordingly, investors or potential investors should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Group's actual results of
operations, financial condition, liquidity 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, financial condition and liquidity 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 these forward-looking statements,
which speak only as at the date of this announcement, and will not publicly
release any revisions that may be made to these forward-looking statements,
which may result from events or circumstances arising after the date of this
announcement.

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