Chairman falls on his sword at De La Rue

De La Rue’s chairman has resigned in a dramatic victory for the activist investor that has for months been calling for his head.

Kevin Loosemore’s departure from the banknote printer was announced days after a disastrous profit warning that saw the 210-year-old company’s share price fall to a record low.

That prompted investor Crystal Amber – the company’s third largest shareholder with a near 10 per cent stake – to call for ‘immediate change’.

Other investors who had previously backed Loosemore fell in behind Crystal Amber, and Loosemore decided to quit rather than face a humiliating vote, the Mail understands.

De La Rue said in a terse statement issued shortly before the stock market closed that he had resigned ‘to draw a line under recent speculation surrounding the leadership of the company’.

Loosemore – who started as chairman in October 2019 – will leave office on May 1 and an ‘accelerated recruitment process’ has been launched to find a successor, the company said.

The aim is to appoint a new chairman on May 2 – less than three weeks from now – or ‘as soon as possible thereafter’, the statement added.

De La Rue said private equity veteran Pepyn Dinandt, who has been nominated for the role by Crystal Amber, would be a candidate in the process. Shareholders will be able to vote on the new appointment at the group’s annual general meeting in July.

Richard Bernstein, founder of Crystal Amber, told the Mail: ‘The focus is now on De La Rue’s recovery – and the strategic value of the business is very substantial.’

Shares closed 2.4 per cent lower.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at broker Interactive Investor, said: ‘This is clearly a victory for Crystal Amber which has been desperately trying to oust Loosemore for a while.’

She said the company was in need of ‘a drastic shake-up to restore investor confidence’.

Crystal Amber had been publicly calling for Loosemore to go since November.

Speculation is likely to surround the future of De La Rue’s chief executive Clive Vacher once Loosemore’s replacement takes the reins.

Earlier this week it warned that profits for the year to the end of March would fall short of market expectations and also marked down its outlook for 2023-24 earnings.

The group blamed a slump in demand for bank notes, which it said was at the lowest level for 20 years.

That followed a previous profit warning in November. It has been struggling for years and in 2018 lost out on a lucrative contract to print Britain’s post-Brexit passports.