February 13, 2014 – by Peter B. Counter
Biometrics software and service provider Aware, Inc. has announced the results of its fourth quarter of 2013, and subsequently the entire year. The recently ended Q4 saw the company bringing in $5.6 million, a 16 percent increase on the previous year’s fourth quarter ($4.9 million). When combined with the rest of 2013 we see that Aware also finished with an increase of 12 percent annually, reporting $19.4 million, improving on 2012’s $17.3 million finish.
To be able to report this kind of increase in revenue is exceptional in Aware’s case: the company completed the shutdown of its DSL service assurance business in this past Q4, now focusing wholly on biometrics.
With the completion of the shutdown of our DSL service assurance business in the fourth quarter of 2013, we have become essentially a biometrics software and services company,” expands Rick Mober, CFO and co-CEO of Aware. “I am pleased to report that this business turned in another solid performance in 2013. While it is difficult for us to forecast future financial performance, we are optimistic about our prospects for 2014. Our optimism is founded in revenue backlog as of December 31, 2013, the expected launch of new products, and new biometrics project opportunities.”
In the end, after taking into account the loss of discontinued operations (which included $2.9 million in exit costs associated with the DSL business shutdown, offset by $2 million of income from a customer termination agreement) Aware’s net income for 2013 is reported as $2.6 million. This figure equates to $0.11 per diluted share, which in comparison to the previous year’s $72.3 million ($3.28 per diluted share) is a marked decrease.
That said, Aware’s optimism for 2014 is well founded. In 2013 the company’s biometrics business saw a number of deployments. Saudi Arabia and Canada both signed agreements with Aware, who working with Fujitsu, saw deployment for visa issuance and management operations. The revenue increase, along with Aware’s bolstered focus on the biometrics market is a good reason to keep an eye on the company as biometrics find more and more traction on a worldwide scale, both in consumer markets and the verticals, especially in border control.
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