British secure document and currency printer De La Rue has revealed that pre-tax profits fell to £69.5m in the six months to March 28, down from £89.3m in 2013/14.The company has now cut its final dividend to 16.7p a share from 28.2p a year earlier, taking the annual payout to 25p a share from 42.3p.De La Rue said: "As anticipated in September 2014, the difficult market conditions have continued into the new financial year. More recently however, the weakness of the euro against sterling has given the eurozone suppliers a commercial advantage putting some further pressure on the group's profitability."The company added that long-term pressure on prices and margins caused by competition for printing banknotes had persisted. A transition to digital passports, for which it makes security features, was slower than expected.
De La Rue suffers decline in profits
