De La Rue Plc has reported results for the year that it describes as a considerable disappointment and has decided to axe around 400 staff involved in its bank note printing operation. The London, UK company saw profits for the year to March 31 drop 30.3% to 60.4m pounds on revenue that edged up 2.9% to 790.2m pounds. De La Rue produces 400m magnetic strip cards and smart cards every year and it looks to like the firm is slimming down its traditional bank note printing business and turning its attention towards the smart card market. The job cuts in its bank note printing business will hit 375 staff at its at its Gateshead, Tyne and Wear plant, the equivalent of around a quarter of its capacity. The plant will continue to operate but the headcount will drop from 500 to 125. Another 20 jobs are expected to go at the company’s site in Basingstoke. Further indication to its shift towards smart cards will be officially announced this week. De La Rue has entered into a joint venture with an Australian software company to boost its smart card interests. De La Rue Cartes et Systems, the French subsidiary of De La Rue and Sydney-based Chip Application Technologies Ltd will combine their technologies and jointly market and sell a complete multi-application smart card system on a global basis, and is thought to be targeted at the banking and retail systems. Chip Application Technologies designs software programs for transaction cards that run multiple applications and will provide its software to be used for De La Rue cards and terminals.
