Swedish biometrics firm Fingerprint Cards has reported results for the fourth quarter.Consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 381.4 M, down 10 percent year-on-year, due in part to weaker sales in Business Line Smartcards, Automotive & Embedded, and in part to a continued decline in the average selling price (ASP). Gross profit for the fourth quarter was SEK 88.1 M (88.2) and the gross margin was 23 percent (21). Operating margin was negative 4 percent (neg: 6). Operating expenses amounted to SEK 103.4 M (113.7). Development costs of SEK 16.3 M (9.3) were capitalized during the quarter, which corresponds to 31 percent of total development costs, compared with 19 percent for the corresponding period of 2018. EBITDA for the quarter totaled SEK 13.3 M (pos: 8.8).Christian Fredrikson, President and CEO, said: “We are not satisfied with the current margin level and our efforts to ensure a competitive production cost continue as strong as ever.”Another key priority in this context is broadening our business, both in terms of new products and further areas of application. Fingerprints remains the leading provider in the world for capacitive sensors for smartphones and we continued to strengthen our position in the fourth quarter by expanding our product portfolio”In November, the firm launched FPC1540, a new thin sensor designed for side-mounting.”Expanding the business into new areas is a very important priority for Fingerprints. Biometrics is now genuinely on the way to making its entry into another global mass market: card payments. Fingerprints' products in this area are world-leading in terms of security, user-friendliness and performance, and it is very gratifying that our T-Shape sensor and biometric software platform for payments are being used in the world's first commercial launch of biometric credit cards”.”Approximately four billion smart payment cards are currently produced each year. This number could increase to as many as six to eight billion within a few years, as all cards in circulation are converted to smart cards. Fingerprints has a fantastic starting point in this market, with well-established cooperation with the leading players all along the value chain for biometric smart cards: card manufacturers and their suppliers, manufacturers of secure elements, payment systems and card issuers”.
Fingerprint Cards reports Q4 results
