GBG bullish after Acuant integration as digital identity providers update earnings

The strategic progress behind GBG’s record financial results of 11 percent growth to revenue of £242.5 million (approximately US$297.1 million), which includes the integration of biometric identity verification provider Acuant, represents a major victory and positions it for future growth, the company says. The preliminary results announced for full-year 2022 were released along with a commitment to reach carbon neutrality by the end of 2023.

The acquisitions of Acuant and Cloudcheck helped boost GBG’s overall headcount by 250. The selfie biometrics provider was picked up GBG in a $736 million deal in late-2021, and GBG notes the stronger competitive differentiation and U.S. presence it gained with Acuant.

Adjusted operating profit was up slightly for the year, adjusted diluted earnings per share down by just under 10 percent, and final dividend per share up by 12.1 percent.

“Our excellent customer advocacy and record team engagement scores highlight each team member’s huge contribution towards achieving our success and delivering on the considerable potential in our markets,” comments GBG CEO Chris Clark. “The acquisition of Acuant marks a powerful and complementary addition to GBG, accelerating our strategic progress and strengthening our leadership position in the identity verification and fraud markets.”

Intellicheck revenue increase cuts net loss

Intellicheck has preliminarily announced revenues of $3,3950,000 from its physical and digital identity validation solutions for the fiscal first quarter of 2022, up 19 percent from $2,863,000 in the same period a year ago.

Software-as-a-Service revenues composed most of the total, and rose at a similar rate. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was down slightly on higher costs for cloud services and web-based support, but remained above 90 percent.

Net loss for the quarter was cut to $1,468,000, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to net losses of $4,624,000 or $0.25 per diluted share in Q1 2021.

“The growth that we experienced during the quarter shows that our clients continue to find new uses for our products and demonstrates that we continue to expand in our core markets and are successfully entering new markets,” says Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis. “At the same time, we have continued to advance our strategic priorities to achieve our longer-term growth objectives. The investments we have made in technology and operations are yielding results in serving our market growth and expansion and our clients well.”

Intercede enters phase 2 of turnaround plan

Intercede reports revenue of £9.9 million ($12.1 million) from its digital identity, derived credential and access control services for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.

The company executed the first phase of a turnaround plan in 2021, and is now pursuing scalability and consistent revenue growth during phase two. That includes upgrades to its MyID Credential Management Software.

“It has been a promising year of financial and operational progress and Intercede is now very well positioned for further growth,” states Intercede Chairman Chuck Pol. “We enter FY23 with positive momentum and lots of opportunities. When I look at the various elements of this business; particularly the experienced management team, the high growth cybersecurity market, the blue-chip customer base, the pipeline and the resilient response to market conditions in the last two years, I remain confident of the Group’s future prospects.”

Intercede picked up a pair of initial orders from U.S. federal agencies in the last quarter of the fiscal year to deploy digital identities to mobile devices, in the form of derived PIV credentials, through MyID CMS. Intercede also signed up 16 new deployments during the year, double its sign-up rate for 2021.

Additionally, Nitil Patel replaced Andrew Walker as CFO of Intercede in April.

Auth0 boosts Okta results

Okta continues its strong run with a 65 percent increase in revenue during the first quarter of its fiscal 2022 year, driven by particularly strong performance from Auth0. Excluding Auth0, the company’s revenue was up by 39 percent.

“Organizations around the world have made it clear that identity is the foundation for their digital transformation projects and zero trust security environments,” says Okta Co-founder and CEO Todd McKinnon. “Okta is the recognized leader in identity and we’re confident in our ability to capture more of the massive market opportunity.”

Elan forecasts biometric card gains

Elan Microelectronics has reported May sales of 1.444 million Taiwanese dollars ($48.6 million), with biometrics and touch applications making up 77 percent of the total.

Fingerprint sensors made up 11 percent of the company’s sales.

Elan sees a downturn ahead following 2 years of double-digit expansion, with geopolitical forces, inflation and lockdowns in China applying drag, along with supply chain issues.

In the longer run, the company sees major growth ahead in payments and other sectors for its biometric smart card solution, which has been certified by Mastercard and UnionPay, and is going through the process with Visa.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  ELAN Microelectronics  |  financial results  |  GBG  |  Intellicheck  |  Intercede  |  Okta  |  stocks