Datasonic stock analysts and Precise Biometrics CEO hear industry opportunities knocking

Malaysia’s Datasonic is rumored to be on the heels of a series of government contracts, while Precise Biometrics’ CEO is optimistic about the company’s digital ID and access control offerings. Other announcements by publicly traded industry players include a new client for Nuance, a new board member for Synaptics, resolutions from Fingerprint Cards’ and Idex Biometrics’ AGMs, and a new implementation of Goodix technology.

Datasonic rumored to be in line for government contracts

Datasonic Group Bhd shares have surged in price on rumors that it may win a new contract with the government of Malaysia, where the company is based.

The company already provides biometric facial recognition to the government for border control, and stood up a joint venture to develop next-generation biometrics with Digent last year.

A contract for online renewal of temporary foreign workers for the country’s Immigration Department was extended, ahead of a possible new contract. The news sent Datasonic company warrant DSONIC-WA up by 11 percent in a day to 65 sen, on the second highest volume among public companies on Bursa Malaysia, with nearly 109 million units traded.

The contract for temporary foreign workers is currently held by MyEG, which has received notice to continue providing the service until informed otherwise. The contract had been set to expire on May 22.

Other contract expected to be handed out in the near future include tenders for the Foreign Visa System, One-Stop Centre, Foreigner Identity Card (I-Kad), Electronic Medical Records, and National Digital ID, according to market analyst firm RHB Research, which notes Malaysia’s government is attempting to attempting to speed up its digitalization.

RHB raised its target price for Datasonic stock from RM1.67 to RM1.84.

Datasonic reported net profit of RM20.18 million (US$4.6 million) for the third quarter of its fiscal 2019, which ended December 31, double the same period a year earlier.

Precise Biometrics to focus on YOUNiQ and digital ID

The future of Precise Biometrics hinges significantly on its YOUNiQ offering, CEO Stefan K. Persson writes in a blog post outlining its year ahead.

Persson says the previous fiscal year was “very successful across the board,” after the company recently reported positive results for Q1 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has not reduced Precise’ operations, and the company has recently closed two deals without meeting the clients in person.

Going forward, digital identity will be a key focus for Precise Biometrics, Persson says.

“The size of the opportunity cannot be underestimated and as we’re already seeing, the impact of COVID-19 is accelerating digital transformation across the world.”

The post also details some implementations of Precise YOUNiQ, the development of which will be the company’s “focus for the coming months and years.”

Nuance voice biometrics chosen by major Australian bank

National Australia Bank has selected voice biometrics from Nuance Communications for identity verification to provide an improved customer experience to customers accessing accounts over the phone, the company has announced.

Nuance Gatekeeper powers NAB’s VoiceID service, identifying more than a thousand behavioral and physical voice traits to create and match a unique voiceprint in seconds to perform secure authentication and enable fraud detection.

There were 120,000 users of NAB VoiceID by November 2019, and the bank hopes to reach 250,000 enrolled users by the end of 2020.

The Australian Tax Office, more than half of the world’s largest financial institutions, and 8 of the 10 largest global telecoms use Nuance technology.

Synaptics appoints new board member

Synaptics has appointed Susan Hardman to its board of directors and the board’s compensation committee.

Hardman has held several executive positions at Intersil Corporation as part of a distinguished career in senior management roles in the semiconductor industry, according to the announcement. She has held roles in product design and testing for different product groups, corporate marketing, and applications.

Fingerprint Cards declines to pay dividend

Fingerprint Cards has resolved not to pay a dividend this year, but the board of directors will repurchase its own shares, after exercising its authorization at the company’s Annual General Meeting.

The company is permitted to hold up to 10 percent of its own total outstanding shares in class B shares, and currently holds just over 1 percent. The board was also authorized to decide whether new shares would be issued with or without preferential rights for shareholders.

At the AGM, the company also elected Johan Carlström as chairman of the board, and elected auditors for the year ahead.

Idex Biometrics announces incentive subscription rights and insider share purchase

Idex Biometrics is issuing 357,300 incentive subscription rights to employees, under the company’s 2020 incentive subscription rights plan, at the exercise price of NOK 1.63 (US$0.17) per share, according to a board resolution. The company has also given notice that CEO Vince Graziani has purchased 185,000 shares in the company at $0.157 per share. It is Graziani’s first share purchase in the company, though he retains 5,000,000 incentive subscription rights.

Goodix heart rate and blood oxygen detection implemented to wearable

The new realme watch launched to India features ultra-low power sensors for heart rate and blood oxygen level detection from Goodix, according to a tweet from the biometrics company.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometrics  |  Datasonic  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  Goodix  |  government purchasing  |  Idex Biometrics  |  Nuance Communications  |  Precise Biometrics  |  stocks  |  voice biometrics  |  wearables