De La Rue has decided that they will not appeal the government's move to choose a Franco-Dutch company to make the new blue post-Brexit passports.

The British firm say they have "considered all options", but that they will not challenge the decision.

They have also announced a hit to earnings, predicting a drop in profits to be in the "low to mid 60s million range".

The £490million contract will be given to rival company Gemalto, which is based in Amsterdam.

The current burgundy passports, which have been issued for the last 30 years, will become blue and gold from October 2019.

De La Rue's chief executive Martin Sutherland had vowed to appeal the decision, but later decided not to challenge the move to print the new passports abroad.

De La Rue, who currently print British passports, have said that they lost the contract because they were "undercut" on their offer.

In a statement, De La Rue said: "De La Rue will continue to fulfil its existing contract and assist with transition to the new supplier and is therefore expecting no impact on the group's performance in the next 18 months."

Shares in the firm dropped as much as 8% after De La Rue announced their profit blow and the departure of their finance chief last month.

De La Rue have also been feeling pressure following a delay in the shipment of "certain contracts" in the last week of March, which impacted on earnings.

Franco-Dutch company Gemalto, whose headquarters are based in Paris, already produce UK driving licences and have a number of sites in the UK.