- Email: [email protected]
Financial Results
CTT June
5/29/01
4:16 PM
Page 2
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news .........Continued from front page The volumes of non-cash transactions in the UK are forecast to rise by an average of more than 4% a year, leading to more than 18 billion transactions in 2010, points out APACS. Non-cash transactions in 2000 amounted to 12.2 billion. The balance between paper, plastic and automated payments is expected to shift substantially. In 2000, some half of all non-cash transactions were made by plastic card; this share is expected to rise to 58% in 2010. Cheques accounted for one in five non-cash transactions in 2000; this compares with a projected one in ten transactions by 2010. Nevertheless, cash remains the dominant payment method for personal customers accounting for nearly three-quarters of all domestic payments. Cash is also important in value terms - nearly £260 billion in cash was acquired and spent by individuals in 2000, compared with the £150 billion spent on debit and credit cards combined. Cash machines are now the single most important channel for the delivery of cash to individuals. ATMs in the UK paid out some 2 billion withdrawals worth £114 billion in 2000. APACS forecasts that by 2010, two-thirds of all cash acquired by individuals will be from ATMs. Contact: Richard Tyson-Davies at APACS, Tel: +44 207 711 6235, www.apacs.org.uk
financial
Financial Results The year 2000 saw two of the Big Three smart card companies floating their shares on public stock exchanges. Oberthur was listed on the Paris stock exchange in July, while Gemplus floated its shares publicly in December in Paris and on the Nasdaq. (The third smart producer is Schlumberger Test and Transactions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Schlumberger group.) One result of these moves is that more financial information is emerging from the industry leaders.
Depressed wireless demand hits Gemplus Depressed demand from the mobile phone market caused Gemplus International to turn in a loss during the first quarter of 2001, to look for a buyer for one of its German plants and to reorganise its manufacturing activities. The company has also cut its forecasts of growth, predicting that sales would improve by 7% in the second quarter and by 12-14% for the full year, against a previous forecast of 30-32%. A major part of Gemplus revenues in 2000 was from
2
SIM cards used in mobile phones. Antonio Perez, CEO, said that the reorganisation of the company’s factories should have been done earlier, but had been overlooked in the drive for growth. Revenue for the first quarter was 294 million, up 27% from the same quarter a year ago. But the company showed an operating loss of 2.5 million, compared with an operating profit of 14 million for the same quarter a year ago. Net loss for the first quarter was 7 million. “Our 27% revenue growth this quarter was very solid in what clearly have been challenging business conditions,” said Perez. “Dataquest’s recent industry summary for the year 2000 clearly shows Gemplus as the market share leader for both the entire smart card market and the SIM card segment. Moreover, the report showed a 3 percentage point gain in our overall market share. We believe this trend continued into the first quarter.” Gemplus expects its Financial Services business to continue strong performance.
Restructuring The company’s plans to restructure its operations will bring an estimated charge of 35 million in the second quarter. The restructuring includes a project to dispose of its Seebach facility in Germany and a rebalancing of its worldwide production facilities. The company also said it would combine its Financial Services business with its E-business Security business. The company expects these actions to result in an annual savings of approximately 40 million; the positive impacts should begin to show in the second half of the year. Gemplus expects revenue for its second quarter to increase by 7% from the same quarter a year ago, with operating income at about the break-even level before restructuring. For 2001, the company expects revenue growth to be approximately 12-14%, with operating profit, before restructuring, at about 90-100 million. Contact: Séverine Percetti at Gemplus, Tel: + 33 4 42 36 67 67, e-mail: [email protected]
financial
Schlumberger boosts cards revenue, but orders falter Card revenue in Schlumberger’s Test & Transactions division (which houses the group’s smart card business) during the first quarter of 2001 grew 20% year-over-year and declined 4% sequentially (compared with the previous quarter). But orders declined 21% year-over-year and 23% sequentially; the
company says that this reflects the current inventory levels of GSM cards held by mobile telecom operators. The main drivers of year-over-year growth in card revenues were strong demand and increased volume of high-end Java-based products for mobile communications and banking applications. The anticipated seasonal volume decline in GSM cards was partially offset by strong average sales price improvement due to the favourable mix of high-end and new products. And, sequentially, orders for prepaid cards were up 12% while banking card orders were up 55%. In March, Schlumberger Test & Transactions acquired Bull CP8 (CTT March 2001, p2). The company says that this acquisition makes Schlumberger the clear leader in smart cards. “It adds unique R&D and smart card technology capabilities in the banking segment, where Bull CP8 holds a strong, globally recognized position.” Looking to the future, the company says that in North America, the increasing adoption of the GSM standard, which provides mobile phone users with seamless roaming across GSM networks worldwide, has generated significant opportunities for both product and service applications. Schlumberger has signed a memorandum of understanding with AT&T Wireless to provide SIM (subscriber identity module) smart cards and related OTA (overthe-air) technology to support AT&T Wireless’ new GSM network platform. Contact: Jose de Vries, Schlumberger Test & Transactions, Tel: +33 1 47 46 44 67, e-mail: [email protected]
financial
Oberthur sticks to its revenue forecasts Oberthur Card Systems has recently reaffirmed its forecast of 25-30% revenue growth for 2001. Oberthur said that its operations were balanced between SIM cards for mobile phones, pay cards and e-commerce applications. This has reduced its exposure to the slowdown in wireless telephony that has hit Gemplus. For the year 2000, Oberthur Card Systems recorded consolidated revenues of 451.1 million in 2000. Taking like with like, growth in 2000 over 1999 was 16.4%. Operational earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) stood at 48.85 million. The net result before goodwill was 16.2 million. The net income after goodwill was 9.2 million. Contact: Stephanie de Labriolle at Oberthur Card Systems, Tel: +33 1 41 25 28 42, e-mail: [email protected]
Card Technology Today June 2001
5/29/01
4:16 PM
Page 2
(Black plate)
news .........Continued from front page The volumes of non-cash transactions in the UK are forecast to rise by an average of more than 4% a year, leading to more than 18 billion transactions in 2010, points out APACS. Non-cash transactions in 2000 amounted to 12.2 billion. The balance between paper, plastic and automated payments is expected to shift substantially. In 2000, some half of all non-cash transactions were made by plastic card; this share is expected to rise to 58% in 2010. Cheques accounted for one in five non-cash transactions in 2000; this compares with a projected one in ten transactions by 2010. Nevertheless, cash remains the dominant payment method for personal customers accounting for nearly three-quarters of all domestic payments. Cash is also important in value terms - nearly £260 billion in cash was acquired and spent by individuals in 2000, compared with the £150 billion spent on debit and credit cards combined. Cash machines are now the single most important channel for the delivery of cash to individuals. ATMs in the UK paid out some 2 billion withdrawals worth £114 billion in 2000. APACS forecasts that by 2010, two-thirds of all cash acquired by individuals will be from ATMs. Contact: Richard Tyson-Davies at APACS, Tel: +44 207 711 6235, www.apacs.org.uk
financial
Financial Results The year 2000 saw two of the Big Three smart card companies floating their shares on public stock exchanges. Oberthur was listed on the Paris stock exchange in July, while Gemplus floated its shares publicly in December in Paris and on the Nasdaq. (The third smart producer is Schlumberger Test and Transactions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Schlumberger group.) One result of these moves is that more financial information is emerging from the industry leaders.
Depressed wireless demand hits Gemplus Depressed demand from the mobile phone market caused Gemplus International to turn in a loss during the first quarter of 2001, to look for a buyer for one of its German plants and to reorganise its manufacturing activities. The company has also cut its forecasts of growth, predicting that sales would improve by 7% in the second quarter and by 12-14% for the full year, against a previous forecast of 30-32%. A major part of Gemplus revenues in 2000 was from
2
SIM cards used in mobile phones. Antonio Perez, CEO, said that the reorganisation of the company’s factories should have been done earlier, but had been overlooked in the drive for growth. Revenue for the first quarter was 294 million, up 27% from the same quarter a year ago. But the company showed an operating loss of 2.5 million, compared with an operating profit of 14 million for the same quarter a year ago. Net loss for the first quarter was 7 million. “Our 27% revenue growth this quarter was very solid in what clearly have been challenging business conditions,” said Perez. “Dataquest’s recent industry summary for the year 2000 clearly shows Gemplus as the market share leader for both the entire smart card market and the SIM card segment. Moreover, the report showed a 3 percentage point gain in our overall market share. We believe this trend continued into the first quarter.” Gemplus expects its Financial Services business to continue strong performance.
Restructuring The company’s plans to restructure its operations will bring an estimated charge of 35 million in the second quarter. The restructuring includes a project to dispose of its Seebach facility in Germany and a rebalancing of its worldwide production facilities. The company also said it would combine its Financial Services business with its E-business Security business. The company expects these actions to result in an annual savings of approximately 40 million; the positive impacts should begin to show in the second half of the year. Gemplus expects revenue for its second quarter to increase by 7% from the same quarter a year ago, with operating income at about the break-even level before restructuring. For 2001, the company expects revenue growth to be approximately 12-14%, with operating profit, before restructuring, at about 90-100 million. Contact: Séverine Percetti at Gemplus, Tel: + 33 4 42 36 67 67, e-mail: [email protected]
financial
Schlumberger boosts cards revenue, but orders falter Card revenue in Schlumberger’s Test & Transactions division (which houses the group’s smart card business) during the first quarter of 2001 grew 20% year-over-year and declined 4% sequentially (compared with the previous quarter). But orders declined 21% year-over-year and 23% sequentially; the
company says that this reflects the current inventory levels of GSM cards held by mobile telecom operators. The main drivers of year-over-year growth in card revenues were strong demand and increased volume of high-end Java-based products for mobile communications and banking applications. The anticipated seasonal volume decline in GSM cards was partially offset by strong average sales price improvement due to the favourable mix of high-end and new products. And, sequentially, orders for prepaid cards were up 12% while banking card orders were up 55%. In March, Schlumberger Test & Transactions acquired Bull CP8 (CTT March 2001, p2). The company says that this acquisition makes Schlumberger the clear leader in smart cards. “It adds unique R&D and smart card technology capabilities in the banking segment, where Bull CP8 holds a strong, globally recognized position.” Looking to the future, the company says that in North America, the increasing adoption of the GSM standard, which provides mobile phone users with seamless roaming across GSM networks worldwide, has generated significant opportunities for both product and service applications. Schlumberger has signed a memorandum of understanding with AT&T Wireless to provide SIM (subscriber identity module) smart cards and related OTA (overthe-air) technology to support AT&T Wireless’ new GSM network platform. Contact: Jose de Vries, Schlumberger Test & Transactions, Tel: +33 1 47 46 44 67, e-mail: [email protected]
financial
Oberthur sticks to its revenue forecasts Oberthur Card Systems has recently reaffirmed its forecast of 25-30% revenue growth for 2001. Oberthur said that its operations were balanced between SIM cards for mobile phones, pay cards and e-commerce applications. This has reduced its exposure to the slowdown in wireless telephony that has hit Gemplus. For the year 2000, Oberthur Card Systems recorded consolidated revenues of 451.1 million in 2000. Taking like with like, growth in 2000 over 1999 was 16.4%. Operational earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) stood at 48.85 million. The net result before goodwill was 16.2 million. The net income after goodwill was 9.2 million. Contact: Stephanie de Labriolle at Oberthur Card Systems, Tel: +33 1 41 25 28 42, e-mail: [email protected]
Card Technology Today June 2001