Fingerprint Cards AB: Interim report January-September 2017
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Press release
October 26, 2017
Fingerprint Cards AB: Interim report January-September 2017
Leading position in a challenging smartphone market and positive trend for smart
cards
* Challenging smartphone market and weakened gross margin, but sequential
volume growth
* Positive cash flow, decreased inventory and strong cash position
* Positive trend for smart cards
* Increased investment in strategic R&D projects
Third quarter 2017
* Revenues amounted to SEK 841.4 M (1,862.3), down 55 percent compared with
the third quarter of 2016
* The gross margin was 33 percent (49)
* Operating profit amounted to SEK 52.4 M (764.5) and the operating margin was
6 percent (41)
* Earnings per share before dilution totaled SEK 0.16 (1.89)
* Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 174.7 M (134.5)
January-September 2017
* Revenues totaled SEK 2,350.7 M (5,019.6), down 53 percent compared with the
year-earlier period
* The gross margin was 37 percent (49)
* Operating profit amounted to SEK 195.2 M (2,058.2) and the operating margin
declined to 8 percent (41)
* Earnings per share before dilution totaled SEK 0.44 (5.04)
* Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 378.6 M (944.3)
CEO's comments
Leading position in a challenging smartphone market and positive trend for smart
cards
As previously announced, earnings for the third quarter were impacted negatively
by the cautious market situation and noticeable price pressure. Yet on a
positive note, we continued to reduce our own inventories and maintained a
strong cash flow. We are operating in a mature mass market where we will remain
a leader in terms of volumes and we are implementing a number of initiatives to
enable us to restore our growth and improve our profitability. Firstly, we are
pursuing a combination of technology and product development in order to cut
production costs and develop new, innovative products. Secondly, we are focusing
on business development in order to increase the number of application areas for
our technology and broaden our customer base. Finally, we will focus on
increasing efficiency and lowering costs throughout the supply chain. We are
also aiming to implement a number of efficiency measures in order to reduce our
costs.
When it comes to the market, there were a number of concurrent technological
trends and uncertainty factors that caused our Chinese OEM customers to adopt a
highly cautious approach during the quarter. As a result of this uncertainty,
our customers have opted to shorten their planning horizons and component
inventories in the value chain have decreased from normal levels. We are also
seeing signs of consolidation in the value chain. This impeded market growth and
our deliveries during the quarter. For example, we are seeing a trend toward
smartphone screens that cover the entire front of the device and many OEM
customers are therefore looking to move the fingerprint sensor to the back of
the phone. Back-mounted sensors are sold at a lower price which - in combination
with the general price pressure - has resulted in a decline in the average
selling price (ASP). The rate of decline in ASP amounts to approximately 30
percent annually for 2017. Looking at the fourth quarter, I expect our overall
delivery volumes to decline compared with the third quarter due to seasonal
effects in the component industry.
Our OEM customers are also evaluating other technologies, such as the
possibility of fully integrated in-display fingerprint sensors. As of yet, there
are no commercial in-display solutions suitable for mass production, but we are
engaged in a number of development projects in the area. Iris and face
recognition are also being evaluated as alternative biometric methods.
We are seeing no signs that our OEM customers plan to replace the fingerprint
sensor with other solutions. Instead, there is talk of offering complementing
biometric methods for authentication, known as multimodality. Our iris solution
would work well in such a scenario, and our major OEM customers and customers in
other segments have expressed significant interest in this possibility.
Fingerprints' market position remains very strong. During the quarter, 27 mobile
devices equipped with our sensors were launched and we announced the first
product launch of FPC1028, a high-performance, cost-efficient sensor.
Fingerprints' smart card offering is attracting considerable and growing
interest, even though it will take time for market volumes to become comparable
with those we are currently seeing in the smartphone market. As the only player
in this space with extensive experience in the mass production of sensors,
Fingerprints has a very strong starting position in the promising smart card
market. During the quarter, we took the next step toward high-volume production
of Fingerprints' smart card sensors through the launch of the new module design
T-Shape(TM). We also joined the standardization work being carried out by
Eurosmart and announced that our sensors will be used in AirPlus's pilot project
for contactless payment cards.
To create the conditions for profitable growth, we are pursuing a number of
technology and market initiatives and are continuing to invest in new
innovations. We will talk more about this at our Technology Update on November
1 in Stockholm.
Christian Fredrikson, CEO
For further information, contact:
Christian Fredrikson
President and CEO, Fingerprint Cards AB (publ),
+46 31 60 78 20
Stefan Pettersson
Investor Relations
+46 10 172 00 10
investrel(at)fingerprints.com
www.fingerprints.com/corporate/
Welcome to Fingerprint Cards' presentation of the interim report for the third
quarter of 2017 on October 26 at 3:00 p.m. CEST. The presentation will be
webcasted, and participants can register via the link below.
https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=3483&seid=113
For media and analysts: The telephone conference dial-in is +44 (0)
1452 5555 66 (international participants) or 08 5033 6434 (Swedish
participants). State conference ID 9902 9857.
This information is information that Fingerprint Cards AB is obliged to make
public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted
for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at
7:00 a.m. CEST on October 26, 2017.
About Fingerprint Cards (Fingerprints)
Fingerprint Cards AB, Fingerprints, with its Swedish roots, is the leading
global biometrics company, whose mission is to spearhead the development of
biometric interaction that facilitates the convenience and integrity of the
individual. Its value is proven daily by users in millions of devices, through
billions of touches, who are their own key - quite simply, with a human touch.
Fingerprints develops biometric systems comprising sensors, algorithms, software
and packaging technologies. The success is based on product development at the
cutting edge of technology, which results in world-leading products in terms of
security, convenience and performance. The current product range consists
largely of fingerprint sensors and customers are primarily manufacturers of
smartphones and tablets, where the company is market leading. As the use of
biometric solutions increases, Fingerprints is working to broaden its offering
by using different biometric techniques, or modalities, and to identify other
market segments where the solutions can be used, such as smart cards, PCs,
automotive and online devices (IoT). The Fingerprints share is listed on Nasdaq
Stockholm (FING B). The company has shown strong growth and sales totaled SEK
6,638 M in 2016, with an operating margin of 39 percent. Most of the more than
500 employees work in Sweden, but the company has offices worldwide, from
Shanghai to Silicon Valley.
Important information
Issuance, publication or distribution of this press release in certain
jurisdictions could be subject to restrictions. The recipient of this press
release is responsible for using this press release and the constituent
information in accordance with the rules and regulations prevailing in the
particular jurisdiction. This press release does not constitute an offer, or
invitation to acquire or subscribe for new securities in Fingerprint Cards in
any jurisdiction.
Interim Q3 2017 FINAL ENG:
http://hugin.info/132202/R/2144747/822029.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Fingerprint Cards AB via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 26.10.2017 - 07:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 565316
Anzahl Zeichen: 9819
contact information:
Town:
Gothenburg
Kategorie:
Business News
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