De La Rue to reduce banknote printing capacity

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LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Banknote printer De La Rue (Other OTC: DELRF - news) plans to reduce its paper production as part of cost-saving plans over the next few years to bring production into line with falling demand for paper banknotes, it said on Wednesday.

The company, which prints over 150 national currencies as well as UK passports, said it would reduce its production lines to four from eight and its print capacity to 6 billion banknotes a year, down from 8 billion.

De La Rue has struggled to maintain its sector dominance in the face of continuing price pressure from competitors in recent years, leading to a number of profit warnings.

The measures, which include closing banknote production in Malta, would help the group to make savings in excess of 13 million pounds ($19.6 million) a year from 2018/19, in addition to the group's existing cost-saving initiatives, it said in a statement.

Last week the company said it would launch a "root and branch" review of its cash-sorting machines business after first-half profits fell by more than a third. ($1 = 0.6637 pounds)

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by David Goodman)