FPC reports Q3 revenue gains, sees biometric payment cards going mainstream in 2022

Revenues for Fingerprint Cards reached SEK 354.3 million (US$41.2 million) for the third quarter of the company’s fiscal 2021 year, well up from SEK 294 million ($34.2 million) in the same quarter a year earlier on strong biometrics sales in the PC market and for payment cards. Further improvement to between SEK 350 million and 390 million ($40.7 million to $45.3 million) is expected in Q4.

FPC has commissioned Carnegie Investment Bank to evaluate the possibility of a debt capital financing round to generate funds to use accelerating its growth, according to the announcement.

The results also show a 10 percent higher gross margin and an EBITDA of SEK 32.3 million ($3.75 million), well up from SEK 8.7 million ($1 million). Operating result and earnings per share finished in positive territory, after negative results in Q3 2020.

Highlights during the quarter include the selection of FPC biometric sensors by Dell for five new PC models, and the completion of development on an innovation moving biometric authentication within the secure element of a payment card, achieved with partner Infineon.

“At the same time as demand for our products remains healthy in the mobile industry, our revenue streams are now being diversified at a higher pace than previously, into areas with attractive margins,” comments Fingerprint Cards CEO and President Christian Fredrikson. “Our activities within the Access area are developing favorably, while PC is now emerging as an important new area for Fingerprints. We anticipate favorable growth in the short and long term, partly due to considerably more computers being sold now compared with pre-pandemic volumes, but primarily because the share of computers with fingerprint sensors is expected to grow considerably from today’s relatively low levels. Our sales to the PC industry have all the prerequisites to outgrow the Access area in the next 12-18 months and thereby develop into the second largest application area for our products.”

For the January to September period, FPC booked sales of SEK 999.2 million ($116.1 million), after recording SEK 886.3 million ($103 million) in the same period last year.

PC market

The company’s SVP for its Mobile Business Line Ted Hansson reviews the market potential for Fingerprint Cards’ biometric sensors in personal computers in a blog post, just as the company has revealed two new PC design wins with the Acer Chromebooks 514 and 515 featuring FPC sensors. The new implementations mark 30 for Fingerprint Cards in the PC and peripherals market.

Momentum behind zero trust approaches to cybersecurity and on-device authentication approaches are contributing to growth in PC biometrics, Hansson writes.

Payment cards

In an interview with Thisismoney.co.uk, Fingerprint Cards SVP Michel Roig says that biometric payment cards will become mainstream in 2022.

That includes the beginning of trials in the UK next year, and the company believes half the cards in Europe could have biometrics by 2026.

FPC Head of Payment Business Roger Carrico says that with contactless limits in Britain rising from £45 ($62) to £100 ($138) earlier this month, contactless cards without biometrics could become a target for thieves. With sensor costs now down to slightly more than £2 ($2.75) per card, a compelling value proposition may not be far behind.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  fingerprint sensors  |  pc  |  stocks