Next Biometrics reports earnings gains and optimism over new fingerprint sensor deals

Next Biometrics has reported revenue of NOK 30.1 million (US$3.37 million) in the second quarter, up 18 percent from the same period a year ago, amid increasing market activity and customer progress in India.

The company’s gross margin improved from 26 percent in Q2 2018 to 32 percent, and EBITDA excluding options improved to negative NOK 30.5 million ($3.41 million) as its cost reduction program began to have a positive impact. Quarterly revenue from notebooks was an all-time high for Next, though it is expected to decline as a U.S. tier 1 customer begins reducing the number of platforms the company’s biometric technology is implemented in.

Highlights in the quarter included an agreement with ABCorp to collaborate on the commercialization of biometric smart cards. Since then quarter ended, Next has also reached a pair of deals to offer its technology in POS-based payment solutions for use with Aadhaar, and signed its first commercial agreement for its FAP20 sensor with a leading access control supplier.

“We offer an unrivaled combination of secure, large-size, cost effective and easy to use fingerprint sensors which position us for long-term growth,” comments Next Biometrics Interim CEO Dan Cronin. “Our customer base in our target markets of smart card, government ID, access control and notebook is expanding. We continue to sign new design-in contracts for our existing products and the government grade FAP 20 sensor which will be available later this year, and in India are converting our strong lead pipeline for our Aadhaar-certified products. These developments are expected to impact positively on our revenue from the second half of 2019, while we progress according to plan with the commercialization of our Dual Interface solution which will position us for the emerging hypergrowth payment smart card market.”

Cronin switched to interim CEO from his COO role when former CEO Ritu Favre stepped down in May.

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biometrics  |  financial results  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Next Biometrics