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| cardsnmore.com / press_releases / 25-01-2007.html |
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LaserCard Corporation Reports Financial Results for FY07 Third Quarter |
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25.01.2007 - LaserCard Corporation (NASDAQ:LCRD), a leading supplier of ID credentials used in biometric identification, today announced the financial results for its fiscal 2007 third quarter ended December 31, 2006.
Revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 were $6.2 million, compared with $6.3 million in the prior quarter and $10.1 million in the same quarter a year ago. The net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 was $3.0 million, or ($0.25) per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million or ($0.23) per diluted share in the prior quarter, and net earnings of $1.2 million or $0.10 per diluted share in the same quarter a year ago.
LaserCardÒ optical memory card revenues for the quarter were $3.1 million compared with $3.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2007 and $7.7 million in the third quarter last year. Revenues from specialty cards and printers were $2.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with $2.9 million in the prior quarter and $2.2 million in the same quarter a year ago.
LaserCard Corporations cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $18.3 million at December 31, 2006 compared with $21.6 million at September 30, 2006.
The decrease in quarterly revenue from a year ago and the associated loss is largely due to a delay in implementation of the Italian governments national ID card program (Carta dIdentità Elettronica) and the resulting fall-off in orders and shipments, said Richard Haddock, CEO of LaserCard. We recorded no revenue for this program in the third quarter of this fiscal year versus $3.3 million for this program in the third quarter of last year. For the first nine months of this fiscal year, we recorded revenue on this program of $0.4 million versus $4.5 million for the same period last fiscal year. We expect that the work done by a special governmental commission over the past six months, including determining the price an Italian citizen will pay when issued a card, will lead to resumption of the program during calendar 2007. We continue to anticipate that the Italian government will become our largest customer as this program grows.
We also expect to see progress on each of our other major programs in the coming months, said Haddock. Activity has been increasing in the national ID card program of our Middle Eastern country customer. We have delivered on orders totaling $4.2 million this fiscal year although all corresponding revenue has been deferred. We anticipate being able to begin to record revenue for these orders in our fourth quarter ending March 31, 2007.
Regarding our U.S. government business, recent actions lead us to believe that the follow-on government contract and our resulting subcontract will be issued during February 2007 for U.S. government Green Cards and Laser Visas.
We expect to see a rebound in our core programs during the coming months and a return to profitability next fiscal year. Our fourth quarter could be bolstered with initial shipments of orders placed under the follow-on U.S. government subcontract and the beginning of revenue recognition for our past years efforts in the Middle East. It is our belief that in the fourth quarter the remaining issues in Italy should be resolved clearing the path for the Company to receive additional orders for this cornerstone program with shipments beginning in either our March or June 2007 quarter, said Haddock.
We appreciate the hard work by our staff in the successful conversion to our new ERP management system during the third quarter, which enhances our infrastructure to support our future growth opportunities.
Significantly, we have decided to engage a corporate strategy consulting firm to assist the Company in leveraging the success we anticipate during fiscal 2008 in order to maximize our future growth potential. As part of this effort, we will explore courses of action to identify significant new growth opportunities. In addition to seeking expansion in our optical card-based secure government ID business, we will evaluate options to develop commercial opportunities, add complementary products and enter adjacent markets, said Haddock.
Earnings Results Conference Call
LaserCard will hold a conference call to discuss the company\'s fiscal 2007 third quarter results today, January 25, 2007, at approximately 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. For access to the conference call, please call 517-308-9001 by 1:50 p.m. Pacific Time. A taped replay of the call will be available for one week. To access the replay, please call 203-369-3813. You will need to reference the passcode LaserCard and the conference leader Richard Haddock. To listen to the call via the Internet, please log on to: www.lasercard.com or www.vcall.com. The Internet Webcast will be archived for one year. |
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