Fingerprint Cards’ sluggish smartphone demand in China in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 weighed on the company’s sales and gross margin, although the company expects a rebound this year.
Fingerprint Cards reported fourth-quarter revenue of SEK 190.3 million (approximately US$18.4 million), with a gross margin of 8.8%, well below the SEK 365.6 million and 31.7% for the same period in 2021. EBITDA was SEK 26.7 million ($2.6 million) a year ago from negative SEK 74.3 million ($7.2 million) in the quarter.
Full-year results were also down, with revenue down 36% to SEK 861.8 million (US$ million), with a corresponding decline in margins, EBITDA and operating profit for calendar year 2022.
However, sales and margins were actually higher in the fourth quarter than in the third, fueling some optimism for the company.
Fingerprint Cards expects its sales in the Chinese smartphone market to rebound in 2023, if not outright, acting president and CEO Ted Hansson said. Volume sales of the company’s under-display biometric solutions and the expected growth of its PC business in the short and long term are further reasons for optimism.
“Along with under-display sensors in PCs and mobile phones, the Access segment is the fastest-growing segment we assess in the near term,” Hansson said. “So this is a priority area for R&D investment in the coming year. Along with PCs, Access currently accounts for our largest revenue share outside of the traditional business of capacitive fingerprint sensors for mobile phones in China. As part of these new segments, our business outside of capacitive sensors in mobile phones accounted for more than 30% of sales in the fourth quarter, and we estimate that share will increase to around 45% by the end of 2023.”
Hansen also said that with fingerprint card technology in the commercial launch of ten biometric payment cards around the world, the payments sector “represents a sizeable addressable market and is an important area for long-term growth.”
Fobi raises over $600,000 in private placement
Fobi AI completes a non-brokered private placement less than a year after entering Digital ID with AltID.
AltID is a digital identity verification service that uses selfie biometrics.
The company sold more than 4.7 million units at $0.175 each, for a total proceeds of $826,690 (approximately $620,000). These units consist of common stock, plus warrants to purchase the other half. Each warrant is worth $0.30 of common stock at any time before January 24, 2025.
Participants in the round included the company’s CEO and COO, as well as an unnamed strategic investor.
According to the announcement, the funds will be used for general and corporate working capital purposes.
Nasdaq notifies minimum bid for BIO-key
BIO-key stock has been below Nasdaq’s $1.00 minimum bid requirement for 30 days, prompting it to have 180 days to come back into compliance.
The company has until July 11, 2023 to regain the lowest price or obtain an extension.
“We are confident in BIO-key’s global prospects through 2023 and our ability to return to listing compliance under Nasdaq guidelines,” said Mike DePasquale, BIO-key Chairman and CEO. “Our enthusiasm is based on our Growing annual recurring SaaS licensing and maintenance revenue, and our expanding pipeline of additional customer opportunities.”
A recent partnership with a U.S. government vendor to sell its IAM and biometric products in Southeast Asia bolsters the company’s opportunities.
article subject
Bio-Key | Biometrics | Digital Identity | Financial Performance | Fingerprint Cards |
