OSLO, NORWAY - 22 August 2024 - Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or "the company") today
announces its results for the first half of 2024.
Significant events H1 2024
Focusing on identity and access management, Seriline, a Sweden-based company,
has signed a distribution agreement with Zwipe that pioneers next generation
biometric cards for physical & logical access control and identification
solutions.
Plasticard - ZFT, one of the leading manufacturers for plastic cards, smart
cards and ID media has partnered with Zwipe to distribute biometric access cards
for Zwipe in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Ermes srl, one of the leaders in providing solutions for the identification and
security of people, has signed a distribution agreement with Zwipe, a pioneer
and world leader in the development of biometric technology on cards for
identification and access control.
Zwipe announced the appointment of PCB & Security Europe S.L., headquartered in
Barcelona, Spain, as its official distributor for Spain and Portugal. This
strategic partnership expands Zwipe's reach across Europe and positions the
company to capitalize on the growing demand for secure and convenient biometric
access solutions in the Iberian Peninsula.
Zwipe has teamed up with SCAP, the leading distributor of access control cards
and readers in France, focusing on providing advanced security RFID solutions,
to introduce the innovative "biometric system-on-card" to SCAP's customers.
Tadera and Zwipe announce that the Zwipe Access Biometric Smart Card System has
completed operational test and evaluation by National Safe Skies Alliance, Inc.
(Safe Skies) at Richmond International Airport (RIC). The report concludes that
the Zwipe access card is a highly secure and user-friendly solution that meets
the needs of the airport.
In January, Zwipe announced a company restructuring and new strategic direction,
increasing its focus on Zwipe Access and accelerating the commercialization of
its biometric authentication technology in the access control market. As a
result of the change in strategic focus, the company has initiated a
restructuring process that is expected to reduce operational costs, particularly
related to Zwipe Pay.
Significant events after the period
ZKTeco, a globally recognized leader in access control solutions, is proud to
announce a partnership with Zwipe, a leader in biometric technology for cards
used in identification, access control, and payment. Together, they aim to
deliver cutting-edge, high-security access solutions in Europe.
Zwipe the market leader in Biometric Smart Card technology for biometric access
card technology, has entered into a strategic partnership with ABC Security
Access Systems, a prominent integrator specializing in physical security
solutions. This collaboration aims to introduce Zwipe's state-of-theart
biometric smart card technology solutions to customers across the Canadian
marketplace, focusing on key sectors such as retail, government, commercial and
institutional.
Zwipe, the global leader in biometric payment and access cards, and AXYS, a
specialist in integrating access control, video surveillance, intrusion
detection, and other security technology solutions announce a strategic
partnership. This collaboration aims to deliver the groundbreaking "biometric
smartcard" technology solution to AXYS's global customer base.
Message from the CEO
During the first half of the year, we have, alongside the execution of the
restructuring program, focused on implementing the new strategy focusing on the
access control market. We intensified our efforts to establish and develop
strategic partnerships in our targeted regions that enhance our reach and
credibility within the industry with good traction and response. Collaborations
and the establishment of go-to-market partnerships with key players in the
security and technology sectors are increasing both our market presence and
growth potential and we have expanded our network of distributors and resellers,
as well as system integrators and installation companies in all geographies.
In France, during the first quarter, we signed a distribution agreement with
SCAP, a major distributor giving us access to many local system integrators and
installers, and a large pool of potential French end user enterprises.
During the second quarter we have started to see our intense work paying off as
we have been able to sign additional collaborations with, among others,
Seriline, Plasticard and Ermes. Lately we also communicated agreements with
AXYS, ABC Security Access Systems, ZKTeco Europe. Many of these partners operate
and have strong foothold in multiple countries and regions giving us an even
wider reach.
Today we have more than 60 distributors and system integration partners
throughout North America and European counties we have selected to focus on. It
also means we have continued to increase the number of distributed starter
packs/ demo kits during the second quarter of the year, so our partners can
approach an increased number of end user enterprises.
As we have stated before, we are primarily targeting three verticals. For the
Airport, Power Plants and Data Centers we have developed specific value
propositions that we are getting good response and traction on. The fourth area
we are approaching is more generic in terms of government agencies, major tech
companies and multinational enterprises in various sectors and verticals.
Three of our partners in North America are specialized in providing security
solutions to data centers. This has so far resulted in that we are engaged in a
tender process with a leading internet search company and that we have commenced
testing for a top social network and software company. Biometric access cards
and our solution have also been adopted by architects and solution providers in
future tenders when building new data centers.
On the power plant vertical we have passed product tests and are under
evaluation by a major nuclear plant in North America. We also under evaluation
by a major energy company in the USA.
Unfortunately, the airport vertical has not yet shown the development we had
expected given the positive outcome of the report by National Safe Skies
Alliance, Inc. We have two major partners in this vertical that are currently in
dialogue with more than 10 airports in the USA. It is our assessment that more
time is needed as decision processes in these potential deals take longer time
than expected.
In total we together with our partners now have around 55 ongoing unique end
user enterprise engagements. Not to say that every enterprise will ever
implement biometric access cards for all their employees, but our current 55
engagements have an average of +40.000 employees per engagement, so the
potential is huge.
We are obviously disappointed that we and our partners have not been able to
enter into material commercial deployments and generate revenue during the first
half of this year. At the same time, we are very pleased with the development in
building our partner network in the first half year and the response we are
getting from our engagements. That said, we are convinced that the work we have
been doing will pay off in the near future.
Financial review
Profit and loss Zwipe reported total revenues of NOK 0.6 million during the
first half of 2024, lower than the NOK 1.7 million reported in the first half of
2023. Net sales equalled NOK 0.1 million during the first half of 2024, and
consisted to 100 percent of Zwipe access, compared to NOK 0.05 million during
the first half of 2023.
Total operating expenses totaled NOK 29.4 million in the first half of 2024,
down NOK 28.1 million compared to the first half of 2023. Personnel expenses
were down to NOK 13.6 million compared to NOK 28.3 million in the first half of
2023, as headcount has decreased in line with the restructuring plans presented
in June 2023 as well as in January 2024. Other operating expenses of NOK 14.6
million in the first half of 2024 were also significantly lower when compared to
NOK 26.9 million in the first half of 2023, driven mainly by lower development,
certification, marketing and travel costs. Depreciation, amortization and
impairment amounted to NOK 0.7 million in the first half of 2024 versus NOK 1.0
million during the first half of 2023.
The above resulted in net income for the first half of 2024 of NOK -30.0
million, substantially better than NOK -56.1 million reported in the first half
of 2023.
Cash flow During the first half of 2024, cash flow from operations and
investments, before financing and facilitation, was NOK -40.9 million from NOK
-59.3 million in the first half of 2023, an improvement with NOK 18.4 million.
Cashflow from financing activities equalled NOK 24.1 million and represents the
remaining cash outstanding from the fundraising in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Total net cash flow for the first half of 2024, including cash flow from
financing and investing activities, was NOK -17.0 million compared to NOK 25.4
million in the first half of 2023, as Zwipe completed a rights issue raising NOK
100.1 million in gross proceeds in the first half of 2023. Investments,
liquidity, and financial position On 30 June 2024, cash and cash equivalents
were NOK 25.2 million, compared to NOK 76.0 million on 30 June 2023.
As of 30 June 2024, production equipment, machinery, and fixtures were valued at
NOK 3.7 million, and made up all long-term assets. Including cash of NOK 25.2
million, inventories of NOK 23.5 million, and receivables of NOK 1.2 million,
current assets stood at NOK 49.9 million giving total assets of NOK 53.7
million.
Total equity as of 30 June 2024 amounted to NOK 30.7 million. Liabilities
totaled NOK 22.9 million, comprising solely short-term liabilities.
Consequently, the equity ratio stood at 57%.
This disclosure contains information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public
pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act (2007:528). The information was
submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 22-08
-2024 08:00 CET.
Hugo Petit
Interim CFO and Head of IR
ir@zwipe.com
About Zwipe
Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low
-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an
ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial
services and ID applications, Zwipe is "Making Convenience SecureT". Using
advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe's
solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication
methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years
developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with
security solutions based on international infrastructure standards.
To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com