De La Rue PLC (LSE:DLAR) continued to wheel out profit warnings instead of barrels full of cash as the embattled money printer saw its share price crash once more.
The Basingstoke based firm, whose clients include central banks across the world, issued three warnings last year alone, putting it in line for some sort of record – albeit an unwanted one.
The latest scare for investors came as the firm, whose history can be traced back to 1813, said demand for bank notes was at its lowest levels for over 20 years.
The cashless society has certainly hit De La Rue hard and CEO Clive Vacher warned the “downturn in currency” was causing a “significant degree of uncertainty” for next year.
In recent years, De La Rue has struggled with the major loss of its British passport contract after Brexit, which sealed Martin Sutherland’s exit from the business, increased costs, supply chain woes, and a structural decline in demand for physical cash amid the rise of contactless payments and digital banking.
Although cash remains the most frequently used means of payment at the point of sale, its share is declining.
A survey on payment attitudes in the euro area published by the European Central Bank showed cash was used for 59% of point-of-sale transactions in 2022, down from 72% in 2019.
The latest woes could not have been more badly timed with the company under attack from activist investment fund, Crystal Amber, which holds a 9.8% stake.
In a letter to De La Rue management, Crystal Amber called for chair Kevin Loosemore to go and claimed the three-year turnaround instigated by the company has failed in every measure.
Victoria Scholar at interactive investor believes “drastic change is needed in order to convince shareholders of a rosier outlook.”
With the shares plunging over 20% today taking its 5-year share price decline to more than 90%, fund managers at Crystal Amber may be sharpening their pencils once more.