Fingerprint Cards splits mobile biometrics, payments into separate subsidiaries

Two new business units are being formed after a strategic review by Fingerprint Cards to serve its different groups of customers for its biometric technology more efficiently with separate subsidiaries, according to a company announcement.

The new businesses are known as Fingerprint Technology Company (FPC) and Fingerprint Cards Switzerland. The former was previously Fingerprint Card’s Mobile business line, selling fingerprint biometric sensors to manufacturers, while the latter was the company’s Payments & Access business line, and operates its biometric payment card business. The new FPC will be based in Shanghai, China, and led by Ted Hansson as president, while Fingerprint Cards Switzerland will be based in Zug, Switzerland and helmed by Michel Roig.

“The strategic review work as initiated by the Board in July has helped us conclude that the Company and its stakeholders stand to benefit from a fuller organizational and legal separation of our two business lines,” explains Group CEO Christian Fredriksson. “Given two very different sets of business dynamics and ecosystems – including partners and customers – this separation enables clearer and more efficient day-to-day operations while both subsidiaries continue to benefit from access to the same unique IP as owned by the Group. I’m delighted by the appointment of Ted and Michel to lead the subsidiary operations, both of whom have gained significant experience within the Group in their respective business lines in past years.”

Hansson suggests that proximity to FPC’s biometrics customers and partners in mobile devices and PCs will help the company offer innovative and differentiated solutions. Similarly, Roig sees the payments and access business based close to other technology providers and partners in the biometric payment cards ecosystem.

“The Mobile and Payments industry ecosystems differ in many respects including structure, regulatory environments, and geography. The world’s top three payment card producers are all based in continental Europe, while most of the largest smartphone OEMs are headquartered in Asia. The changes we are announcing today will further enhance our strategic and financial opportunities, enabling us to explore distinct and separate financing options and avenues of development for the different subsidiaries in our Group,” comments Johan Carlström, chairman of the Board of Fingerprint Cards AB (publ).

2022 revenue guidance

Fingerprint Cards has also announced its earnings expectations for 2022.

The company anticipates revenues of between SEK 1,600 million (US$178.3 million) and SEK 2,000 million ($222.9 million) in the coming fiscal year, based on an exchange rate of SEK 8.70 per USD. EBITDA margin is forecast to reach somewhere between 14 and 18 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“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,” Fredriksson states. “The good sales growth in 2022 is expected to be generated mainly in the areas of Mobile, PC and Access. This is despite the fact that we expect the current semiconductor shortage in the world to persist throughout 2022. When access to semiconductors and production capacity is normalized, there is additional scope for significant sales increases. The launches of biometric payment cards by BNP Paribas, Europe’s largest bank, and Crédit Agricole, number three in Europe, entail that another global mass market for our products is on the way to being opened up. Interest in biometric payment cards has increased sharply following the initial commercial launches, all with Fingerprints’ technology.”

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  Fingerprint Cards Switzerland  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Fingerprint Technology Company  |  smartphones  |  stocks