PORTALS PAPER LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-11-30 (in 6mo)
Last filed for 2025-02-23
Confirmation statement due
2026-09-15 (in 4mo)
Last made up 2025-09-01
Watchouts
Cash
£3M
-52.9% vs 2024
Net assets
-£5M
+67.3% vs 2024
Employees
113
-9.6% vs 2024
Profit before tax
£12M
-55.9% vs 2024
Watchouts
Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating
-
1 PSC ceased in last 24 months
Significant control changed hands — see the Ownership section.
Name history
Renamed 2 times since incorporation
- PORTALS PAPER LIMITED 2021-02-24 → present
- PORTALS DE LA RUE LIMITED 2018-01-08 → 2021-02-24
- PORTALS DLR PAPER LIMITED 2017-10-09 → 2018-01-08
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Basic Materials median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2025-02-23
| Metric | Trend | 2024-02-25 | 2025-02-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £23,378,000 | £26,602,000 | |
| Operating profit | -£509,000 | £5,778,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £27,100,000 | £11,964,000 | |
| Net profit | £30,133,000 | £10,155,000 | |
| Cash | £6,597,000 | £3,110,000 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £30,331,000 | £9,135,000 | |
| Net assets | -£15,081,000 | -£4,926,000 | |
| Equity | -£15,081,000 | -£4,926,000 | |
| Average employees | 125 | 113 | |
| Wages | £6,724,000 | £5,455,000 |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2024-02-25 | 2025-02-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -2.2% | 21.7% | |
| Net margin | 128.9% | 38.2% | |
| Return on capital employed | -1.7% | 63.3% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 149.5% | 134.4% | |
| Current ratio | 2.82x | 1.15x | |
| Interest cover | -14.97x | 52.53x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The Directors have adopted the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements, as reported in note 3. As such, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.”
Significant events
- “On 31 December 2024, the business was bought by German Speciality Papermaker, Drewsen Spezialpapiere Gmbh & co KG.”
- “Since the announcement in 2022 that Portals would withdraw from the banknote paper market, the Company has completed the close down of banknote operations at the Overton Mill and sold the remaining assets to Portals Finance 3 Limited during the period. The Overton banknote business has now been classified as a discontinued operation.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
4 active · 10 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOLLIDAY, Ross, Dr | Director | 2018-03-29 | Jun 1978 | British |
| LEWIS, Rebecca | Director | 2024-02-22 | Feb 1984 | British |
| RAUHUT, Matthias | Director | 2024-12-31 | Apr 1965 | German |
| WALSH, Harriet Elizabeth | Director | 2024-08-15 | Aug 1992 | British |
Show 10 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| HICKMAN, Dominic Richard Bernard, Dr | Secretary | 2017-10-09 | 2018-03-29 |
| CHILD, Colin Charles | Director | 2018-04-12 | 2020-04-21 |
| GROVER, Jason | Director | 2018-06-27 | 2019-08-05 |
| JONES, Timothy William | Director | 2018-03-29 | 2021-12-14 |
| NASH, Andrew Simon | Director | 2023-08-04 | 2024-08-15 |
| PEPPIATT, Edward Hugh Davidson | Director | 2017-10-09 | 2018-03-29 |
| RANCON, Jean-Baptiste | Director | 2019-08-28 | 2024-02-22 |
| ROCHE, Lesley Sharon | Director | 2018-03-20 | 2018-03-29 |
| SODHA, Jitesh Himatlal | Director | 2017-10-09 | 2018-03-19 |
| WHEELER, Laura Jane | Director | 2018-03-29 | 2024-02-22 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drewsen Spezialpapiere Gmbh & Co. Kg | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100% | 2024-12-31 | Active |
| Portals Finance 3 Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2018-03-29 | Ceased 2024-12-31 |
| De La Rue International Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2018-01-03 | Ceased 2018-03-29 |
| De La Rue Holdings Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2017-10-09 | Ceased 2018-01-03 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 69 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-12 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2025-09-11 | AA01 | accounts | Change account reference date company current extended | |
| 2025-09-05 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with updates | |
| 2025-07-01 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-01-21 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-01-21 | PSC02 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-01-14 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-12-24 | MR05 | mortgage | Mortgage charge part both with charge number | |
| 2024-12-24 | MR05 | mortgage | Mortgage charge part both with charge number | |
| 2024-09-16 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2024-09-02 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-08-24 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-08-15 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-08-15 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-08-15 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-08-08 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-05-13 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-02-22 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-02-22 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-02-22 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 4
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 0
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.
Year-on-year
FY2024 → FY2025 · period ending 2025-02-23 vs 2024-02-25
-
Turnover
+13.8%
£23,378,000 £26,602,000
-
Cash
-52.9%
£6,597,000 £3,110,000
-
Net assets
+67.3%
-£15,081,000 -£4,926,000
-
Employees
-9.6%
125 113
-
Operating profit
+1,235.2%
-£509,000 £5,778,000
-
Profit before tax
-55.9%
£27,100,000 £11,964,000
-
Wages
-18.9%
£6,724,000 £5,455,000
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers