Currency printer names new chief exec

Bank note printer De La Rue today named a new chief executive to drive forward its restructuring.

The group said Leo Quinn, who has been chief operating officer of the US production management arm of automation and controls group Invensys for nearly three years, would take up the post on May 31.

Mr Quinn, who replaces retiring chief executive Ian Much, will spearhead the group’s efforts to improve its profitability in the face of declining markets for some of its products.

In November, the group announced the latest phase of a cost-cutting strategy designed to refocus it on growth sectors.

A review of De La Rue’s loss-making global services division found a number of products in decline, such as cheques, export stamps and coin bags.

Pulling out of the factories will enable its security products business to concentrate on items such as traveller’s cheques, passports and domestic postage stamps, it said.

The move and other cost-cutting measures come despite a slight increase in De La Rue’s pre-tax profits in the six months to September 27 from the same period last year.

De La Rue said Mr Quinn had a considerable amount of operational experience after spending 16 years of his career with US engineering group Honeywell and in a range of senior management roles in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Thanking Mr Much for his “significant contribution” to the group, chairman Brandon Gough said Mr Quinn had a “wealth of experience in global business.”

“This will serve him well at De La Rue as the board continues to focus on the group’s financial performance,” he said.