Fintech
WISeKey Reports Full Year 2019 Preliminary, Unaudited Revenue of $24.5 Million and Achieves Profitability
WISeKey Reports Full Year 2019 Preliminary, Unaudited Revenue of $24.5 Million and Achieves Profitability
ZUG, Switzerland – January 21, 2020 – WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey”) (SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading global cybersecurity and IoT company, announced today its preliminary, unaudited results for full year ended December 31, 2019.
All 2019 figures in this release are unaudited and estimated due to the preliminary nature of the announcement. WISeKey plans to issue its full year 2019 audited results before March 31, 2020 and conduct a conference call (details will be announced at a later date).
For full year 2019, WISeKey expects its revenue to be approximately $24.5 million. This compares to full year 2018 revenue of $53.7 million, which included revenue from the SSL/TLS PKI business segment sold to DigiCert in January 2019 for $45 million. Excluding SSL/TLS PKI revenues for both reporting periods, WISeKey’s expected full year 2019 revenue of approximately $22.7 million decreased from full year 2018 revenue of $34.3 million due internal restructuring efforts to transform the Company into an Identity Management/IoT/Blockchain service provider. Additionally, WISeKey expects to report net income for full year 2019, due to the $31.1 million gain generated from the sale of the SSL/TLS PKI business.
Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer noted, “2019 was a transformational year for WISeKey. Following the sale of the SSL/TLS PKI business, WISeKey has become a vertically integrated Identity Management/IoT/Blockchain service provider with a unique trust model. While Blockchain is an emerging technology still in its infancy, and many technology providers are struggling to create a winning Blockchain solution, WISeKey with its unique trust model is already generating substantial revenue from this segment. As Blockchain technology matures and demand for IoT security continues to gradually accelerate, we expect our revenue from this segment to increase and profitability to improve.
“In 2019, we experienced increased demand for our products (hardware and software) and services from existing and new/potential clients, while the release of new proprietary solutions with strong cybersecurity offerings, accelerated new customer acquisitions and increased our geographic footprint. Additionally, we further enhanced our position in the Identity Management/IoT/Blockchain segment through the establishment of several partnerships with leading players in the space. As we continue to execute our growth strategy, I am confident that we have the talent, vision and experience to continue gaining market share in 2020 and beyond.”
Strong cash position supports growth initiatives
Cash and cash equivalents together with restricted cash increased to $16.6 million at December 31, 2019, from $9.8 million at December 31, 2018.
In January 2019, we received net cash proceeds of $35.8 million (total sale price of $45 million) from the sale of our SSL/TLS PKI business. WISeKey used the cash proceeds to repay in full the Line of Credit with ExWorks Capital Fund I, L.P. in the amount of $25.3 million. This substantially improved the Company’s financial position and paved the way for significant investments in growth initiatives.
Growth Strategy
WISeKey expects the deployment of its new product NanoSEAL®, the continued traction of several other new blockchain and IoT products released in 2019, and further expansion of its operations in the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia to provide new revenue streams in 2020 and 2021.
WISeKey’s growth strategy also includes the implementation of the Ines and Foresight Platform which is designed to seamlessly integrate WISeKey’s technologies into an Internet of Objects platform. The Ines and Foresight Platform is being used by smart car manufacturers, dealers and suppliers to validate the authenticity of different vehicle components, protect onboard communication between vehicle components, access car components to securely provide over-the-air software updates and diagnose mechanical/technical issues from any location.
2019 Business Highlights – new products and new markets
- Strengthened the Company’s investment in IoT security with the release of NanoSeal®.
- Expanded its partnership with Microsoft Corporation: all members of the Cybersecurity TechAccord are expanding their partnership on initiatives that improve the security, stability and resilience of cyberspace.
- Announced partnership with Oracle: WISeKey Blockchain Identity technology became one of Oracle’s first external trusted identity providers, allowing clients to securely add data onto the Oracle Blockchain Platform using the WISeKey cryptographic key infrastructure.
- Reinforced its penetration in the Chinese technology market: WISeKey’s Root of Trust was accredited by 360 Security Browser to provide Trusted SSL Services in China. 360 Security Browser is the leading internet browser solution in China, with an estimated user base superior to 400 million active users and a market penetration close to 70%, according to CNZZ.
- Joined forces with OpSec Security IoT leader on Brand Protection and Authentication of IoT EcoSystems.
- WISeKey Blockchain Centers of Excellence: WISeKey in cooperation with the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) is creating a number of interconnected Blockchain Centers of Excellence around the world, to facilitate the rapid adaptation and on-boarding of blockchain-based solutions and foster stronger collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors. Each center purchases technologies and licenses from WISeKey.
- New agreements for the smart car, pharmaceutical and fintech industries, and consumer products which, in the aggregate, are broadening the ecosystem of WISeKey’s IoT chips.
- Continued investments in IoT Security, with strong industry-specific partnerships.
- Expansion of patent portfolio with new IP and patents with the aggregation of 39 IoT / Semiconductors patent families (more than 200 patents in total) to its portfolio (https://www.wisekey.com/patents/).
- WISeKey’s comprehensive partnership with Long State Investment Limited (LSI), a leading Asian based investor, to expand the reach of WISeKey in the growing Asian markets and to become one of the leading providers of semiconductors, IoT and Blockchain services in the region. Under the arrangement, WISeKey and LSI plan to establish a Joint Venture in Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2020 to focus on business opportunities in Asia with financed by a $30 million facility provided by LSI during a 24-month period.
- WISeKey Semiconductors Secure Element for Sigfox-enabled connected devices certified by Sigfox.
- WISeKey listed its ADRs on the NASDAQ https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/wkey).
About WISeKey
WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.5 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.
Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.
Press and investor contacts:
WISeKey International Holding Ltd Company Contact: Dourgam Kummer Head of M&A Tel: +41 22 594 3000 [email protected] |
WISeKey Investor Relations (US) Contact: Lena Cati The Equity Group Inc. Tel: +1 212 836-9611 [email protected] |
Disclaimer:
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.
Non-GAAP to GAAP Reconciliations
12 months ended December 31, 2018 | |||
Consolidated Statement of Income / (Loss) | Non-GAAP adjusting entries | ||
USD’000 | Non-GAAP | Reclassification of discontinued operations | US GAAP |
Net sales | 53,692 | (19,412) | 34,280 |
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
On December 21, 2018, WISeKey signed a sale and purchase agreement (the “SPA”) to sell QuoVadis SSL and PKI businesses to Digicert Inc (the QuoVadis Group). While the sale was completed in the first quarter of 2019, WISeKey assessed the SPA under ASC 205 and concluded that the operation met the requirement to be classified as held for sale (at December 31, 2018) and as such qualified as discontinued operations. This led to the results and assets and liabilities of the QuoVadis Group to be presented separately in the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet. However, WISeKey management reviewed 2018 financials on a consolidated basis, including discontinued operations results.
In managing WISeKey’s business on a consolidated basis, WISeKey management develops an annual operating plan, which is approved by our Board of Directors, using non-GAAP financial measures. In measuring performance against this plan, management considers the actual or potential impacts on these non-GAAP financial measures from actions taken to reduce costs with the goal of increasing our gross margin and operating margin and when assessing appropriate levels of research and development efforts. In addition, management relies upon these non-GAAP financial measures when making decisions about product spending, administrative budgets, and other operating expenses. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures, when coupled with the GAAP results and the reconciliations to corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide a more complete understanding of the Company’s results of operations and the factors and trends affecting WISeKey’s business. We believe that they enable investors to perform additional comparisons of our operating results, to assess our liquidity and capital position and to analyze financial performance excluding the effect of expenses unrelated to operations, certain non-cash expenses related to acquisitions and share-based compensation expense, which may obscure trends in WISeKey’s underlying performance. This information also enables investors to compare financial results between periods where certain items may vary independent of business performance, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management.
These non-GAAP financial measures are provided in addition to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The presentation of these and other similar items in WISeKey’s non-GAAP financial results should not be interpreted as implying that these items are non-recurring, infrequent, or unusual. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP are provided in the financial statements portion of this release in a schedule entitled “Financial Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Results (unaudited).”
Fintech
How to identify authenticity in crypto influencer channels
Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.
In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.
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Comments
There are several levels related to this point.
LEVEL 1
Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.
Just to compare:
LEVEL 2
Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.
LEVEL 3
It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.
LEVEL 4
Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.
2. Average views number per video
This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?
First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.
Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.
3. Influencer’s channel statistics
The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.
LEVEL 1
When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.
LEVEL 2
After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.
If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.
Example of statistics
Wrapping up
These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.
If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.
Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process.
Author
Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters
Fintech
Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space
The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.
Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.
Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.
The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.
As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.
Source: fintech.globa
The post Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
Fintech
TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud
TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.
The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.
This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.
TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.
Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.
TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.
Source: fintechfutures.com
The post TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
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