Still a financial struggle for Fingerprint Cards in fiscal ‘23

Biometric sensor maker Fingerprint Cards released fiscal 2023 and fourth quarter financial reports that show a trudge toward black ink. Some key statistics are still moving the wrong way, however.

On the plus side, executives have some positive product news from this month to talk about.

Bright spots for the year ended December 31 included an operating loss that was almost halved. And a negative cash flow of SEK 334.1 million (US$31.9 million) that was cut to SEK 88.3 million ($8.4 million).

The fourth quarter’s gross margin rose from 8.8 percent for the same period a year ago to 9.5 percent, but the year’s margin sank to 12.7 percent from 19.3 percent a year ago.

For the fiscal year, the company reported a loss of SEK 320.4 million ($96,000), or SEK 0.74 ($0.045), on revenue of SEK 705.4 million ($67.3 million). That compares with a loss of SEK 631 million, or SEK 1.92 ($0.18), on revenue of SEK 861.8 million ($82.3 million).

Looking at the fourth quarter, the company reported a loss of SEK 105.2 million ($10 million), SEK 0.22 ($0.021), on revenue of SEK 200.3 million ($19.1 million). This compares with a loss of SEK 527.3 million ($50.3 million), SEK 1.48 ($0.14), on revenue of SEK 190.3 million ($18.1 million).

The hardware and software maker is in the midst of a corporate and product changeover that is not uncommon globally as markets shift in unexpected ways. Executives were surprised that mobile sensors have flamed out.

The product story that Fingerprints Card is telling right now is getting its biometric PC match-on-chip sensor component into computer maker Asus’ Expertbook B5 laptop, according to an announcementv from the Swedish biometrics firm.

The company says the component, which executives hope can command higher profit per unit, is the biggest part of its laptop business.

Article Topics

biometric sensors  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  stocks