Idex Biometrics names new CEO, discusses Q4 2019 revenues

Idex Biometrics has named Vincent Graziani as CEO effective immediately, replacing Stan Swearingen who led the company for two years, the company announced.

As the company enters a stage of full commercial operations, Swearingen suggested a new CEO be appointed so he could move to a new roll focusing on strategy and technology.

“I have joined Idex because of the strength of the team, the unique technology, and the significant opportunity I see for Idex in the market, and, I look forward to leading Idex into its next phase of sales growth,” Graziani said.

Graziani’s previous roles include recently serving as Vice President of Strategy Development and Implementation at Infineon Technologies, CEO of Sand 9 Inc., Vbrick Systems and Sandburst Inc. He has held positions in engineering, sales and marketing Intel, Broadcom and Siemens Semiconductor. Idex and Infineon have an integration partnership dating back to 2018.

“I want to thank Stan for his significant contributions to Idex as CEO and look forward to him continuing to provide his leadership in this new role,” said Morten Opstad, Chairman of Idex Biometrics board. “During Stan’s two years as CEO, he has transformed Idex from an IP organization into a technology leading product company well positioned for success in the biometric smart card market. I am also very pleased that Vince has chosen to join Idex and we expect to benefit from his considerable experience driving sales, strategic partnerships, and growth in technology companies.”

Idex Biometrics has also released its Q4 2019 report.

During 2019, Idex Biometrics raised an additional capital of NOK 304 million ($32 million) and registered NOK 0.7 million ($74,556) revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019, up from NOK 0.4 million ($42,586) in the same timeframe in 2018. The reported revenue for 2019 is NOK 3.7 million ($393,922) compared with NOK 3.6 million ($383,522) in 2018.

Idex reports a net loss of NOK 85.7 million ($9.1 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to a net loss of NOK 63.4 million ($6.8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2018. Loss per weighted average number of basic shares neared NOK 0.14 ($0.015) in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of NOK 0.12 ($0.013) per share in the fourth quarter a year ago.

For full-year 2019, net loss was NOK 285.3 million ($30.4 million), and loss per basic and diluted share was NOK 0.48 ($0.051).

Gross margin on product sales in the fourth quarter was 71 percent, compared to 62 percent in same quarter of 2018.

Top highlights include entering a NOK 56 million (US$6 million) supply agreement with a financial news and IT services company, being chosen by a smartcard manufacturer to integrate the TrustedBio sensor with biometric payment cards, signing an exclusive partnership with Feitian for the Chinese market, and license agreements with Idemia and Chutian Dragon. Those deals reflect Idex’ two strategic priority areas, smartcards for payments and cards and devices for access control.

In the given timeframe, Idex was granted EMVCo security certification for its development site in the U.K. and Idex shares were listed on the U.S. OTCQB Venture Market.

Idex Biometrics made a number of organizational changes, it welcomed Steve Skaggs to the board of directors, Derek D’Antilio as CFO, Pascal Dufour as Director of European Sales and Marianne Boe in investor relations.

In terms of market and ecosystem updates, Idex Biometrics reports a growing market interest in biometric smartcards, following a number of pilots conducted in Europe, Asia and the United States. Last year, Idex was granted patents for biometric systems-on-chip and remote enrollment in key geographies.

Article Topics

appointments  |  biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Idex Biometrics  |  stocks