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 Secure". 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
