De La Rue plc (De La Rue, the “Company” or the “Group”), the world’s leading anti-counterfeiting and security specialist for currency, identity, and brand protection, today announces that the Group’s Pension Trustee (the “Trustee”) has decided to change indexation of future increases from RPI to CPI for its UK defined benefit pension scheme (the “Scheme”), effective from April 2018.
This change is expected to reduce the Scheme’s liabilities and corresponding deficit by c£70m on an accounting basis, which will be reflected in the 2017/18 full year financial accounts.
The Scheme has been closed to new members since 2010 and to future accrual since 2013.
Following a request from the Company and a detailed legal review, the Trustee concluded that CPI is currently a more suitable index for the calculation of annual increases in the Scheme. CPI is used by the UK government for public sector pensions and is increasingly being used by businesses across the UK.
At the time of the Company’s last triennial valuation in April 2015, the Scheme’s underlying actuarial funding deficit increased to £252m, £92m higher than in 2012, despite c£70m contributions made to the Scheme by the Company in that period. The indexation change is part of a broader range of initiatives being explored with the Trustee to put the Scheme on a stronger foundation for the future.
The funding plan agreed in June 2016 to eliminate the deficit over a period of 12 years will remain in place until the conclusion of the next triennial review commencing in April 2018.
| Year ended 31 March | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023-2028 |
| Annual cash contribution (£m) | 13.5 | 20.5 | 21.3 | 22.2 | 23.1 | 23.0 p.a. |
Jitesh Sodha, Chief Financial Officer of De La Rue, commented:
“We welcome the Trustee’s decision to change the pension indexation. There has been a thorough review and comprehensive legal advice taken by the Trustee and the Company. This change in indexation will reduce risks for the members and put the Scheme on a stronger footing and should help better secure pensions for current and deferred pensioners.”
De La Rue plc’s LEI code is 213800DH741LZWIJXP78.
Enquiries:
De La Rue plc +44 (0)1256 605000
Jitesh Sodha Chief Financial Officer
Lili Huang Head of Investor Relations
Brunswick +44 (0)207 404 5959
Katharine Spence
Oliver Hughes
Notes to editors
1. At 5 April 2015, the Scheme had 7,821 members, including 3,720 deferred members and 4,101 pensioners. It had total liabilities of £1,147m and assets of £895m.
About De La Rue
De La Rue’s purpose is to enable every citizen to participate securely in the global economy. As a trusted partner of governments, central banks and commercial organisations, De La Rue provides products and services that underpin the integrity of trade, personal identity and the movement of goods.
As the world’s largest designer and commercial printer of banknotes, De La Rue designs, manufactures and delivers banknotes, banknote substrates and security features to customers in a world where currency will continue to be a key part of the developing payments eco-system. De La Rue is the only fully integrated supplier of both paper and polymer banknotes, and creates security features that ensure banknotes are protected against counterfeiting.
De La Rue is the world’s largest commercial designer and printer of passports, delivering national and international identity tokens and software solutions for governments in a world that is increasingly focused on the importance of a legal and secure identity for every individual.
De La Rue also creates and delivers secure product identifiers and ‘track and trace’ software for governments and commercial customers alike to help to tackle the challenge of illicit or counterfeit goods and the collection of revenue and excise duties.
De La Rue is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:DLAR).
For further information visit www.delarue.com
