Banknote printer De La Rue posted a fall in mid-year profit yesterday but said it was trading in line with expectations, spurring a brief jump in its shares following a string of profit warnings.

The 201-year-old British firm reported a 37 per cent fall in half-year underlying pretax profit. De La Rue, which makes over 150 national currencies and UK passports, said underlying pretax profit fell 37 per cent to £20.6 million from £32.8 million in the first half of last year.

Shares in the company rose as much as 7.3 per cent to 591 pence before paring gains. They stood up 0.8 per cent at 557p as of 0934 GMT.

Investec analyst Chris Dyett, who upgraded his outlook on the stock to “add”, said the statement had reassured investors and he expected to see more operational improvements in the year to come.

“The markets are going to remain difficult for the next couple of years, but De La Rue is well placed. There are things they can do in terms of operation improvements to help mitigate some of that,” he said.

Chief executive Martin Sutherland, who joined the company in October, said he believed there were long-term strengths and potential in its markets despite its headwinds.

“We think this is a strong business, operating in really quite an interesting market ... so while you’ve got short-term headwinds in terms of pricing and capacity, we think overall, this business has got a lot of potential,” he said.

Sutherland said he will evaluate the group’s strategy and report his findings when the company reports its full-year results in May.