In a statement issued this morning the company said that it now expected full-year underlying operating and pre-tax profits to be around £20m lower than the respective £89.3m and £77.3m figures of 2013/2014.

Over the summer the company said the performance of the business would be “more than usually” weighted towards the second half of the financial year. However, the statement said that “trading conditions across the group have deteriorated such that expectations for the current and next financial year are now lower”.

It cited falling prices and margins in banknote printing, even though volumes were “good”.

This was compounded by slower than anticipated growth in its Solutions and Identity Systems divisions, where the company had missed out on a significant number of new business wins, as well as slow growth in its Government Revenue Solutions business.

The firm’s new chief executive, Martin Sutherland, joins next month.

De La Rue was recently named as the preferred bidder for the Bank of England’s (BoE) new banknote printing contract, which is due to start next April.

However, in the statement the company said that it expected the difficult trading conditions to continue into the 2015/2016 financial year, suggesting the BoE contract might not be as lucrative as first hoped.

According to the statement: “The effect of the more recent pricing pressures together with certain contractual price reductions, which will come into effect in 2015/16, on a number of long-term contracts will impact margins and profitability further.”

De La Rue chairman Philip Rogerson said that while he appreciated that the profits warning was disappointing the company “remains a strong, profitable and cash-generative business”.

“We will continue to pursue efficiency gains, invest in the business and in R&D for the future," he added.

At the time of writing the company’s share price had fallen by 210p to 549p in morning trading.