Aware, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results

BEDFORD, Mass., Oct. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), a leading supplier of biometrics software and services, today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2017.

Revenue for the third quarter of 2017 and 2016 was $5.9 million for both periods. Operating income in the third quarter of 2017 was $1.7 million compared to $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2016. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to: i) higher research and development expenses; and ii) lower patent related income from an unaffiliated third party.

Net income in the third quarter of 2017 was $1.2 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, which compares to $1.6 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue for the first nine months of 2017 was $13.0 million, a decrease of 26% compared to $17.6 million in the same nine month period last year. Operating income for the first nine months of 2017 was $2.3 million compared to $5.3 million in the same period last year. The decrease in revenue and operating income were primarily due to: i) a large biometrics software license sale to a U.S. government military customer in the second quarter of 2016 whereas there was no sale of that size in the first nine months of 2017, ii) higher imaging software revenue during the first nine months of 2016 from revenue amortization of a 2015 medical imaging software sale that was only partially offset by a large software license sale to a medical imaging customer in the first nine months of 2017, iii) no hardware sales in the first nine months of 2017; and iv) higher research and development expenses. The resulting decline in operating income was partially offset by: i) higher patent related income from an unaffiliated third party, ii) lower cost of software licenses; and iii) lower cost of hardware sales.

Net income for the first nine months of 2017 was $1.9 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, which compares to $3.6 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.

Kevin Russell, Aware's chief executive officer and president, said, "The financial performance of our business was stronger then in the second quarter. Revenue and operating income were lifted by a large license sale to a medical imaging customer as well as continued business from significant government customers. We continue to make investments in our commercial/mobile business as evidenced by the introduction last week of our Knomi(TM) mobile authentication framework. Knomi utilizes face, voice, and keystroke dynamics to enable multi factor biometric authentication from mobile phones. Our ongoing strategy is to serve as the high quality, expert technical provider of biometric software solutions and services into the government and commercial/mobile markets."

About Aware
Aware is a leading provider of biometrics software products and development services to governments, system integrators, and solution providers globally. Our products include SDKs, software components, workstation applications, and a modular, centralized, service-oriented platform. They fulfill a broad range of functions critical to biometric authentication and search, including face, fingerprint, iris and voice capture, sample quality assurance, data compliance, capture hardware peripheral abstraction, centralized data processing and workflow, subsystem connectivity, and biometric matching algorithms. The products apply biometrics to enable identity-centric security solutions for applications including banking and payments, border management, credentialing and access control, intelligence and defense, and law enforcement. Aware is a publicly held company (Nasdaq: AWRE) based in Bedford, Massachusetts.

See Aware's website for more information about our biometrics software products.

Safe Harbor Warning
Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as estimates or projections of future revenue and earnings, and the growth of the biometrics markets. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements.

Risk factors related to our business include, but are not limited to: i) our operating results may fluctuate significantly and are difficult to predict; ii) we derive a significant portion of our revenue from government customers, and our business may be adversely affected by changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of those governmental entities; iii) a significant commercial market for biometrics technology may not develop, and if it does, we may not be successful in that market; iv) we derive a significant portion of our revenue from third party channel partners; v) hardware revenue is likely to decline in future periods; vi) we face intense competition from other biometrics solution providers; vii) our business is subject to rapid technological change; viii) our software products may have errors, defects or bugs which could harm our business; ix) our business may be adversely affected by our use of open source software; x) our intellectual property is subject to limited protection; xi) we may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights; xii) we must attract and retain key personnel; xiii) we rely on single sources of supply for certain components used in our hardware products; xiv) our business may be affected by government regulations and adverse economic conditions; xv) we may make acquisitions that could adversely affect our results, and xvi) we may have additional tax liabilities.

We refer you to the documents Aware files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and other reports and filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aware is a registered trademark of Aware, Inc. Any other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

                                                    AWARE, INC.

                                         CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

                                       (In thousands, except per share data)

                                                     (unaudited)


                                                         Three Months Ended            Nine Months Ended
                                                          September 30,             September 30,
                                                          -------------             -------------

                                                             2017              2016                  2017    2016
                                                             ----              ----                  ----    ----

    Revenue:

        Software licenses                                  $4,433            $4,136                $8,332 $12,257

        Software maintenance                                1,088             1,288                 3,623   3,750

        Services                                              343               426                   924   1,061

        Hardware                                                -                -                    -    317

        Royalties                                              41                49                   118     252
                                                              ---               ---                   ---     ---

               Total revenue                                5,905             5,899                12,997  17,637
                                                            -----             -----                ------  ------


    Costs and expenses:

        Cost of software licenses                              27                 -                  274   1,101

        Cost of services                                      178               146                   499     517

        Cost of hardware                                        -                -                    -    234

        Research and development                            2,151             1,752                 5,884   5,204

        Selling and marketing                               1,054             1,069                 3,020   3,100

        General and administrative                            849               857                 2,454   2,452
                                                              ---               ---                 -----   -----

           Total costs and expenses                         4,259             3,824                12,131  12,608
                                                            -----             -----                ------  ------



    Patent related income                                      19               238                 1,422     238


    Operating income                                        1,665             2,313                 2,288   5,267

    Other income                                                -                -                   36       -

    Interest income                                           109                76                   281     215
                                                              ---               ---                   ---     ---

    Income before provision for income
     taxes                                                  1,774             2,389                 2,605   5,482

    Provision for income taxes                                545               816                   742   1,839
                                                              ---               ---                   ---   -----

    Net income                                             $1,229            $1,573                $1,863  $3,643
                                                           ======            ======                ======  ======



    Net income per share - basic                            $0.06             $0.07                 $0.09   $0.16

    Net income per share - diluted                          $0.06             $0.07                 $0.08   $0.16



    Weighted-average shares - basic                        21,679            22,847                21,900  22,934

    Weighted-average shares - diluted                      21,758            22,939                21,967  22,996

                                                            AWARE, INC.

                                               CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

                                                           (In thousands)

                                                            (unaudited)


                                                                September 30,             December 31,

                                                                                     2017                 2016
                                                                                     ----                 ----



    ASSETS

         Cash and investments                                                     $49,125              $52,864

         Accounts receivable, net                                                   5,616                3,016

         Property and equipment, net                                                4,385                4,634

         Deferred tax assets                                                        5,648                1,078

         All other assets, net                                                        360                  392
                                                                                      ---                  ---


         Total assets                                                             $65,134              $61,984
                                                                                  =======              =======






    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY


         Accounts payable and accrued expenses                                     $1,816               $1,210

         Deferred revenue                                                           2,729                2,933

         Total stockholders' equity                                                60,589               57,841
                                                                                   ------               ------


         Total liabilities and stockholders'
          equity                                                                  $65,134              $61,984
                                                                                  =======              =======

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SOURCE Aware, Inc.