Biometrics stocks wrap: Precise Biometrics, Ipsidy, Aware, Zwipe, Fingerprint Cards, Goodix, SmartMetric

Precise Biometrics is planning to grow through both increasing licensing revenues and royalties from an expanding range of products and applications areas, according to its annual report.

The company recorded a 36 percent increase in net sales year-over-year in 2019, reaching SEK 91.9 million (US$9.22 million).

“2019 was an eventful year for Precise, one in which we implemented a totally new strategy for the company,” says Precise Biometrics CEO Stefan K. Persson in the report. “We made progress in the development of our Digital Identity and Smart Card business areas, and significantly enhanced our position in the Mobile business area. Our strategy to work on a more focused basis is having increasing effects, which is reflected in both revenue and results.”

Persson notes that the biggest portion of Precise Biometrics’ growth came in the mobile area, and says that physical access control for facilities is a major area of potential future growth. The next global mass market for biometrics will be smartcards, according to analysts, an area the company has made significant progress in during the past year.

Ipsidy reports FY 2019

Ipsidy has reported $2.6 million in revenue for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, down from $3.8 million in 2018, for a net loss of $10.5 million in 2019, half a million more than the year before. The company says progress was made during the year on executing its Trusted Identity strategy.

The difference is partly explained by the one-time revenue from Ipsidy supplying its Search Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission in 2018, which was partially offset by revenues from new products and its Cards Plus business. Basic and fully diluted net loss per share was $0.02 last year and in 2018.

Ipsidy recently made several changes at the top level of its management.

“As a result of our engagement with business partners and potential customers in 2019, we have fine-tuned our approach to the market to reflect the solutions that customers are demanding and simplified the way users interact with our solutions,” says Philip Beck, chairman and CEO of Ipsidy. “Recent developments have only highlighted the expanding need for remote onboarding of users, verifying identity and authenticating transactions everywhere. The Ipsidy team continues to work on closing opportunities in the EMEA, LATAM and US regions, with a focus on the financial, telecommunication and logistics sectors.”

The company also noted a recent agreement with bank software provider Temenos, which serves 41 of the world’s top 50 banks among its 3,000 customers providing financial services.

Aware appoints new board member and announces departures

Aware has appointed Evolv Technology CFO Peter R. Faubert to its Board of Directors to serve as Class III director and eventually as Chairman of the Audit Committee, taking over that role from Adrian F. Kruse, who has announced he will retire from the board when his term as Chairman of the Audit Committee ends on May 20.

“We are pleased that Peter is joining the Aware board,” comments Aware CEO and President Robert A. Eckel. “His extensive finance leadership roles in a variety of public and private software companies will serve us well. I look forward to working with Peter using his valuable experience as we chart the course for the next phase of Aware.”

Faubert steps into a situation of significant turnover in Aware’s leadership, particularly on the financial side, with CFO David J. Martin informing the board of his intention to retire from the position this year, after helping to hire his replacement. Kevin T. Russell has informed the board of his intent to resign as Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, and to leave the board when his term expires on May 20. Richard P. Moberg resigned as a member of the Board of Directors effective March 27.

Zwipe CFO buys shares

Zwipe has issued notice of CFO Lars Kristian Solheim, a primary insider, acquiring 70,000 shares in the company NOK 3.5 (US$0.34) each. He did not previously hold any Zwipe shares.

Fingerprint Cards sensors deployed to four new smartphones

Four new Realme phones have been launched featuring Fingerprint Cards biometric technology. According to a Tweet, the Realme X50, Realme 6 and 6 Pro are each equipped with the FPC1540, while the Realme 5i is being launched with an FPC1511, bringing the number of different mobile devices models with Fingerprint Cards biometrics to 423.

Goodix integrated with 5G Huawei P40 Series

The new Huawei P40 Series integrates Goodix’ Ultra-Thin Optical In-display Fingerprint Sensor, along with an AMOLED touch controller and a smart audio amplifier in a 5G smartphone, according to a Tweet.

SmartMetric ready to tackle surging contactless payment card market

Noting that a report published by MarketsandMarkets forecasts the global market for contactless credit and debit cards will grow from $10.3 billion in 2020 to $18 billion by 2025, SmartMetric has announced that its contactless fingerprint biometric payment cards are ready to ship to partners in Europe once the COVID-19 lockdown ends. The Contactless Payment Market Global Forecast to 2025 shows an expected 11.7 percent CAGR during the forecast period.

Article Topics

appointments  |  Aware  |  biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Goodix  |  Ipsidy  |  Precise Biometrics  |  SmartMetric  |  stocks  |  Zwipe