Financial gains for Thales, Aware, Mitek, FacePhi demonstrate sustained biometrics growth

Thales, Aware, Zwipe, and Mitek unveiled and summarized the financial results or the changes to their business made in the first or second fiscal quarter of 2022, while Next Biometrics looked to their past with the publishing of its 2021 annual report with a financial summary and announced a purchase order from Televic. FacePhi, meanwhile, has confirmed a best-yet year by revenue in 2021 from its selfie biometrics and onboarding software.

Thales Digital Identity & Security sales and orders rise in Q1

Thales’ Digital Identity & Security division, which includes the multinational’s biometric offerings, showed approximately 16 percent year-over-year growth with its sales and order volume in the first quarter of 2022 as one of the company’s stronger-performing segments.

In order intake, the digital identity division made €739 million (approximately US$779 million) in orders, compared to €636 million (approximately $670 million) in Q2 2021. In sales, it followed largely the same pattern with €739 million compared to €636 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Overall order intake fell, from €3.2 billion (approximately $3.4 billion) in Q1 2021 to €3 billion (approximately $3.2 billion) in Q1 2022, a 4 percent drop. The decline was driven by a 27 percent decrease in Defense & Security orders. Its sales volume saw a 4.4 percent upsurge however, with Aerospace and Digital Identity & Security keeping Q1 2022 sales at €3.7 billion (approximately $3.9 billion) versus €3.6 billion (approximately $3.8 billion) in Q1 2021.

Thales says the sales and order intakes fell largely in line with their expectations, as Q1 2021 featured four large contracts worth more than €100 million each (approximately $1.05 million) according to company chairman and CEO Patrice Caine. He added that the strong dynamics of its Space and Digital Identity & Security businesses offset the decline in Defense & Security revenues, due to a high basis of comparison.

Caine said that despite supply chain tensions and uncertainty about air traffic recovery, the company met its financial targets for 2022.

Thales predicted a rosy future after strong financials gave it the confidence to revise its predictions and projections upward.

Aware reports highest quarterly revenue since 2018

Aware reported notable growth with subscription revenue for its biometrics-based security products, propelling the first quarter of 2022 to the highest quarterly revenue since 2018.

In a press release, Aware says revenue for the first quarter of 2022 was $4.7 million, a 6 percent increase compared to $4.4 million in Q1 of 2021, and a 17 percent increase compared to $4 million in Q4 of 2021.

Aware attributes the growth in revenue due to subscription-based revenue and maintenance revenue. The company saw its recurring revenue increase 30 percent year-over-year because of a 73 percent leap in subscription revenue over the same period in Q1 2021 because of new partners and continual expansion of existing partners.

“Our first quarter results demonstrate the additional progress we have made towards building a solid recurring revenue base as we continue to transition into a subscription-based SaaS platform company,” says Robert Eckel, CEO of Aware.

Net losses in Q1 2022 totalled $1.3 million compared to $1.4 million in Q4 2021 and $1.4 million in Q1 2021.

Eckel comments, “We are continuing to expand our reach into new geographies and end markets through our integrated reseller partnerships. As our financial results have demonstrated, our partner strategy has facilitated higher adoption of Aware’s offerings due to those partners’ well-established customer relationships and deep insights into their customers’ needs.”

The Q1 2022 financial results continue its recent business success, with its revenues rising by 49 percent in 2021, driven by its flagship face biometric solution Knomi.

Eckel says Aware is seeking to build its operational momentum in 2022 and focus on driving topline growth at a rate exceeding the biometric market compound annual growth rate of approximately 15 percent.

Zwipe to invest in growing number of staff

Zwipe says it will invest more in staff to meet increasing demand for its biometric-powered payment and access control solutions and services.

The company revealed the update in a run-down of its first quarter of 2022 with its average monthly operational cash flow rate at NOK negative 8.3 million (approximately $9 million) against a loss of NOK 6.3 million (approximately $6.8 million) in the first quarter of 2021. Zwipe was approved by Visa and for pilot programs in the Middle East for its biometric payment cards and was selected by Fraport AG for biometric access control.

The company also saw a small increase in sales revenue at NOK 600,000 (approximately $65,000) compared to NOK 300,000 (approximately $32,000) in Q1 2021.

Its closing cash balance for Q1 2022 ended at NOK 103.6 million (approximately $11 million) versus NOK 108.9 million (approximately $11.8 million) the year prior.

“All in all, our long-term optimism has only been strengthened with another solid quarter. We firmly believe that millions of consumers everywhere will be using Zwipe enabled biometric payment and access cards in the years to come,” said CEO André Løvestam in a statement.

Mitek reports record revenue in Q2 from digital commerce

Mitek reports a record second fiscal quarter in 2022 following a rise in revenue driven by commerce’s transition to digital channels.

In the second fiscal quarter ending in March 31, 2022, Mitek says revenue increased by 21 percent year-over-year to $34.7 million. GAAP net income increased 88 percent year-over-year to $1.9 million, or $0.04 per diluted share. The company also says it has $93.4 million in total cash and investments at the end of the quarter. Cash flow from operations was measured at $7.4 million.

The company showed growth across 2021 and in its first fiscal quarter of 2022.

“Digital identity verification has moved beyond just being an enabler of digital commerce, it now serves as an integral element of most organizations’ technology stack,” says CEO Max Carnecchia. “We believe the next decade of fraud prevention will be defined by an organization’s approach to the lifecycle of identity and access management capabilities.”

Carnecchia also made mention of Mitek’s recent acquisition of biometric identity orchestration company HooYu, saying it will bring its capabilities, “to more use cases and industries helping them increase customer acceptance while reducing fraud and operational costs.”

Next Biometrics headcount down, signs access control contract

Next Biometrics saw a decline in its overall revenue across 2021, though it did incur less of a loss on EBITDA.

Revenue for 2021 stood at NOK 50.8 million (approximately $5.5 million) compared to NOK 58.1 million (approximately $6.3 million) in 2020. Though it did not provide an exact reason, CEO Peter Heuman blames supply chain constraints from COVID-19 that impacted the ability for it to deliver biometric sensors to certain customers in 2021.

Next Biometrics did see improved cash flow in 2021, with a loss of NOK 47.7 million (approximately $5.1 million) compared to NOK negative 80.4 million (approximately $8.7 million) in 2020. The company says that change was because of reduced operating losses. The company saw the average number of employees fall from 40 in 2020 to 26 in 2021, combined with fewer other expenses and R&D investment.

The company’s EBITDA loss was NOK 51.2 million (approximately $5.6 million) in 2021, compared to a loss of NOK 83.3 million (approximately $9 million) in 2020. When adjusted, the loss stood at NOK 32.0 million (approximately $3.5 million) in 2021, compared to a loss of NOK 77.5 million (approximately $8.3 million) in 2020.

Next Biometrics also received a purchase order for a biometric access control device from Belgian ICT provider Televic. An announcement from Next Biometrics says it is ready to be put in specific European markets with an initial product launch in Belgium. Televic hopes to launch the product in additional European countries in 2022, it adds.

FacePhi reports highest turnover in its history in 2021

FacePhi says the 2021 financial year ended with its highest gross revenue to date in a sign of the success of its face biometrics product and business strategy.

In a press release, FacePhi says its consolidated audited annual turnover for the 2021 financial year ended with €13.16 million (approximately US$15 million). It confirms a preview of its 2021 financial year results made in February that also reported 81 percent growth in turnover compared to 2020.

The company also reports an adjusted EBITDA of €1.88 million (approximately US$1.9 million) from international expansion and its structure, that does not account for the compensation agreed for the voluntary dismissal of a managing director. Its unadjusted EBITDA in February was given as €860,445.

FacePhi says its growth was made possible with the doubling of its workforce in 2021 compared to 2020, with more than 175 employees today. With almost 70 percent carrying a technical background, FacePhi believes it has created a multidisciplinary team that can develop digital identity verification technology, strengthen its commercial team, and build alliances to expand globally. Earlier this year, FacePhi announced its intent to move into South America with a Uruguay office, and made a hire for the EMEA region. Its software debuted in Chile, Nigeria, and Vietnam last year.

And like its February preview, FacePhi says it has moved from startup to scaleup in 2021.

Article Topics

Aware  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  FacePhi  |  financial results  |  Mitek  |  Next Biometrics  |  stocks  |  Thales  |  Thales Digital Identity and Security  |  Zwipe