BIO-key International (BKYI) 10-Q2024 Q3 Quarterly report

PART I -- FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(Unaudited)

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements. 

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited)

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements. 

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited)

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements. 

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)

SUPPLEMENTARY DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION

All BIO-key shares issued and outstanding for all periods reflect BIO-key’s 1-for-18 reverse stock split, which was effective December 21, 2023.

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements. 

BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

September 30, 2024 (Unaudited)

Nature of Business

The Company, founded in 1993, develops and markets proprietary fingerprint identification biometric technology and software solutions enterprise-ready identity access management solutions to commercial, government and education customers throughout the United States and internationally. The Company was a pioneer in developing automated, finger identification technology that supplements or compliments other methods of identification and verification, such as personal inspection identification, passwords, tokens, smart cards, ID cards, PKI, credit cards, passports, driver’s licenses, OTP or other form of possession or knowledge-based credentialing. Additionally, advanced BIO-key® technology has been, and is, used to improve both the accuracy and speed of competing finger-based biometrics.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of BIO-key International, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company” or “BIO-key”) and are stated in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full year. Pursuant to such rules and regulations, certain financial information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements have been condensed or omitted. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements contain all necessary adjustments, consisting only of those of a recurring nature, and disclosures to present fairly the Company’s financial position and the results of its operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The balance sheet at September 30, 2024 was derived from the audited financial statements, but does not include all of the disclosures required by GAAP. These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on June 5, 2024.

Foreign Currencies

The Company accounts for foreign currency transactions pursuant to ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters ("ASC 830”). The functional currency of the Company is the U.S. dollar, which is the currency of the primary economic environment in which it operates. In accordance with ASC 830, all assets and liabilities are translated into U. S. dollars using the current exchange rate at the end of each fiscal period. Revenues and expenses are translated using the average exchange rates prevailing throughout the respective periods. All transaction gains and losses from the measurement of monetary balance sheet items denominated in Euros are reflected in the statement of operations as appropriate. Translation adjustments are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2023, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), referred to herein as ASU 2016-13, which significantly changes how entities will account for credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. ASU 2016-13 replaces the existing incurred loss model with an expected credit loss model that requires entities to estimate an expected lifetime credit loss on most financial assets and certain other instruments. Under ASU 2016-13 credit impairment is recognized as an allowance for credit losses, rather than as a direct write-down of the amortized cost basis of a financial asset. The impairment allowance is a valuation account deducted from the amortized cost basis of financial assets to present the net amount expected to be collected on the financial asset. Once the new pronouncement is adopted by the Company, the allowance for credit losses must be adjusted for management’s current estimate at each reporting date. The new guidance provides no threshold for recognition of impairment allowance. Therefore, entities must also measure expected credit losses on assets that have a low risk of loss. For instance, trade receivables that are either current or not yet due may not require an allowance reserve under currently generally accepted accounting principles, but under the new standard, the Company will have to estimate an allowance for expected credit losses on trade receivables under ASU 2016-13. The adoption of ASU 2016-13 had a material effect on the consolidated financial statements of the Company. 

In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU 2020-06, Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 was effective for the Company on January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis. The adoption of ASU 2016-13 did not have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements of the Company. 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standard, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"), which contemplate continuation of the Company as a going concern, and assumes continuity of operations, realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. The Company has suffered substantial net losses and negative cash flows from operations in recent years and is dependent on debt and equity financing to fund its operations all of which raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Recoverability of a major portion of the recorded asset amounts shown in the accompanying balance sheet is dependent upon the Company’s ability to increase its revenue and meet its financing requirements on a continuing basis and become profitable in its future operations. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue in existence.

As of the date of this report, the Company does not have enough cash for twelve months of operations. The history of significant losses, the negative cash flow from operations, the limited cash resources on hand and the dependence by the Company on its ability to obtain additional financing to fund its operations after the current cash resources are exhausted raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. In recent periods, the Company has reduced its marketing, research and development, and rent expenses. In addition, the Company has purchased inventory for projects in Nigeria, which have been delayed in deployment, and is currently exploring other markets and opportunities to sell or return the product to generate additional cash.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table summarizes revenue from contracts with customers for the three month periods ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023:

The following table summarizes revenue from contracts with customers for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023:

*EMESA – Europe, Middle East, South America

Deferred Revenue 

Deferred revenue includes customer advances and amounts that have been paid by customer for which the contractual maintenance terms have not yet occurred. The majority of these amounts are related to maintenance contracts for which the revenue is recognized ratably over the applicable term, which generally is 12-60 months. Contracts greater than 12 months are segregated as long term deferred revenue. Maintenance contracts include provisions for unspecified when-and-if available product updates and customer telephone support services. At September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, amounts in deferred revenue were approximately $961,000 and $443,000, respectively. Revenue recognized during the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2024 from amounts included in deferred revenue at the beginning of the period was approximately $51,000 and $482,000, respectively. Revenue recognized during the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2023 from amounts included in deferred revenue at the beginning of the period was approximately $67,000 and $402,000, respectively.

Accounts receivable are carried at original amount less an estimate made for credit losses based on a review of all outstanding amounts on a monthly basis. Management determines the allowance for credit losses by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history, current economic conditions and other relevant factors, including specific reserves for certain accounts. Accounts receivable are written off when deemed uncollectible.

Accounts receivable at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 consisted of the following: 

Bad debt expenses are recorded in selling, general, and administrative expense.

The following table presents share-based compensation expenses included in the Company’s unaudited condensed interim consolidated statements of operations:

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost, determined on a first in, first out basis, or realizable value. The Company periodically evaluates inventory items and establishes reserves for obsolescence accordingly. The Company also reserves for excess quantities, slow moving goods, and for other impairment of value based upon assumptions of future demand and market conditions. Approximately $3,200,000 of the reserve on inventory is due to slow moving inventory purchased for projects in Nigeria, and the balance for other slow-moving inventory. The Company has been selling units in small quantities and continues to explore other markets and opportunities to sell the product. Inventory is comprised of the following as at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

Distribution Agreement

Swivel Secure has a distribution agreement with Swivel Secure Limited (“SSL”). Terms of the agreement include the following:

The Company expects the revenue targets to continue to be met based on historical performance and increasing distribution by Swivel Secure.

Litigation

From time to time, the Company may be involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business. As of September 30, 2024, the Company was not a party to any pending lawsuits.

The Company’s leases office space in New Jersey, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Madrid and Hong-Kong with lease termination dates in 2024. On August 11, 2023, the Company signed a new one-year lease starting September 1, 2023 for office space in New Jersey. The property leased in China is paid monthly as used, without a formal agreement. The following tables present the components of lease expense and supplemental balance sheet information related to the operating leases were:

Maturities of operating lease liabilities were as follows as of September 30, 2024:

Note Purchase Agreement dated June 24, 2024

On June 24, 2024, the Company entered into and closed a note purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) which provided for the issuance of a $2,360,000 principal amount senior secured promissory note (the “2024 Note”). The 2024 Note carries an original issue discount of $350,000 and the Company agreed to pay $10,000 to the Lender to cover its transaction costs, which were deducted from the proceeds of the 2024 Note resulting in a total of $2,000,000 being funded to the Company at closing. The proceeds will be used for general working capital.
 
The principal amount of the 2024 Note is due eighteen months (18) following the date of issuance. Interest under the 2024 Note accrues at a rate of nine percent (9%) per annum. All repayments of principal due under the 2024 Note will be subject to an exit fee of seven percent (7%) of the principal amount being repaid (the “Exit Fee”). Commencing six months after the date of issuance of the Note (the “Redemption Start Date”), Lender shall have the right to redeem up to $270,000 of principal amount under the 2024 Note each month which amount plus the Exit Fee will be due and payable three (3) business days after Lender’s delivery of a redemption notice to the Company. At the end of each month following the Redemption Start Date, if the Company has not reduced the outstanding balance under the 2024 Note by at least $270,000, then by the fifth (5th) day of the following month, the Company must either pay to Lender the difference between $270,000 and the amount, if any, redeemed in such month plus the Exit Fee, or the outstanding balance due under the Note will automatically increase by one percent (1%).
 
The 2024 Note is secured by a lien on substantially all of the Company’s assets and properties and the Company’s obligations under the Note are guaranteed by Pistol Star, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The 2024 Note can be prepaid in whole or in part without penalty at any time. In the event that the Company receives any proceeds in connection with any fundraising or financing transaction (including any warrant exercises), it will be required to make a mandatory prepayment equal to the lesser of (i) forty percent (40%) of the amount raised in such transaction and (ii) the full amount due under the 2024 Note.

The 2024 Note provides for customary events of default, including, among other things, the event of non-payment of principal, interest, fees or other amounts, a representation or warranty proving to have been incorrect when made, failure to perform or observe covenants within a specified period of time, the bankruptcy or insolvency of the Company or of all or a substantial part of its property, and monetary judgment defaults of a specified amount. Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, Lender may (i) cause interest on the outstanding balance to accrue at an interest rate equal to the lesser of twenty two (22%) or the maximum rate permitted under applicable law, and (ii) accelerate all amounts due under the 2024 Note plus an amount equal to (a) fifteen percent (15%) of the amount due under the 2024 Note for each default that is considered a major trigger event (as defined), and (b) five percent (5%) of the amount due under the 2024 Note for each occurrence of any default that is considered a minor trigger event (as defined), in any case not to exceed twenty five percent (25%).

The Company received gross proceeds of approximately $1.9 million in connection with a financing transaction (see Note 12. 3. Warrants). In accordance with the terms of the 2024 Note, on October 1, 2024, 40% of the proceeds received, or approximately $762,600, was used to prepay amounts due under the 2024 Note. 

Securities Purchase Agreement dated December 22, 2022

On December 22, 2022, the Company entered into and closed a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) and issued a $2,200,000 principal amount senior secured promissory note (the “Note”). At closing, a total of $2,002,000 was funded, with the proceeds to be used for general working capital.

The principal amount of the Note was due six months following the date of issuance, subject to one six-month extension by the Company. Interest under the Note accrues at a rate of 10% per annum, payable monthly through month six and at the rate of 12% per annum in months seven through twelve, payable monthly. The Note was secured by a lien on substantially all of the Company’s assets and properties can be prepaid in whole or in part without penalty at any time.

In connection with the issuance of the Note, the Company issued to the investor 38,889 shares of Common Stock (the “Commitment Shares”) valued at $18.00 per share and a warrant (the “Warrant”) to purchase 11,112 shares of common stock (the “Warrant Shares”) at an exercise price of $54.00 per share, exercisable commencing on the date of issuance with a term of five years. The warrant was valued at $94,316.

On October 31, 2023, the Company repaid $1,400,000 of principal due under the Note, and on December 21, 2023 the Company repaid the remaining principal balance of $800,000 due under the Note.

As of December 31, 2023, the Note was paid in full.

The Company’s basic EPS is calculated using net income (loss) available to common shareholders and the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the reporting period. Diluted EPS includes the effect from potential issuance of common stock, such as stock issuable pursuant to the exercise of stock options and warrants and the assumed conversion of preferred stock.

The following table sets forth options and warrants which were excluded from the diluted per share calculation because the exercise price was greater than the average market price of the common shares:

Issuances of Common Stock

During the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, there have not been any shares of common stock issued to anyone outside the Company, except as noted in this Note 12.

On June 18, 2021, the stockholders approved the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Under the terms of this plan, 43,334 shares of common stock are reserved for issuance to employees and officers of the Company at a purchase price equal to 85% of the lower of the closing price of the common stock on the first day or the last day of the offering period as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Eligible employees are granted an option to purchase shares under the plan funded by payroll deductions. The Board may suspend or terminate the plan at any time, otherwise the plan expires June 17, 2031. On June 28, 2024, 1,390 shares were issued to employees which resulted in a $456 non-cash compensation expense for the Company. On June 30, 2023, 1,557 shares were issued to employees which resulted in a $3,563 non-cash compensation expense for the Company. 

Issuances of Restricted Stock

Restricted stock consists of shares of common stock that are subject to restrictions on transfer and risk of forfeiture until the fulfillment of specified conditions. The fair value of nonvested shares is determined based on the market price of the Company's common stock on the grant date. Nonvested stock is expensed ratably over the term of the restriction period.

During the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company issued 168,963 and 16,404 shares of restricted common stock, respectively, to certain employees and directors. These shares vest in equal annual installments over a three-year period from the date of grant and had a fair value on the date of issuance of $244,996 and $31,200, respectively.

During the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, 1,351 and 2,650 shares of restricted common stock were forfeited, respectively.

Share based compensation for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, was $171,617 and $220,591, respectively.

Issuances to Directors

During the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, the Company issued 4,287 and 3,078, shares of common stock to its directors in lieu of payment of board and committee fees valued at $9,003 and $39,006, respectively. 

Employees’ exercise options

During the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, no employee stock options were exercised.

3. Warrants

During the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, the entered into a warrant inducement agreement with an existing institutional investor for the immediate exercise of certain outstanding warrants that the Company issued on October 30, 2023. Pursuant to the warrant inducement agreement, the investor agreed to exercise outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,030,556 shares of the Company's common stock at an amended exercise price of $1.85. The gross proceeds from the exercise of the warrants was approximately $1.9 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses. In consideration for the immediate exercise of the warrants, the Company also agreed to issue to the investor unregistered Series A Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,030,556 shares of the Company's common stock and unregistered Series B Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,030,556 shares of the Company's common stock, each with an exercise price of $1.85 per share. The Series A Warrants and Series B Warrants share substantially the same terms, are immediately exercisable and will expire five years from the date of issuance. 

There were no warrants issued for the nine-month period ended September 31, 2023. 

There were 911,672 prefunded warrants exercised during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024.

Cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, due from factor, accounts payable and accrued liabilities are carried at, or approximate, fair value because of their short-term nature. The carrying value of the Company’s government loan payable approximates fair value as the interest rate related to the financial instruments approximated market.

During each of the three month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, three customers accounted for 47% and two customers accounted for 33% of the revenue, respectively. For the nine month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, one customer accounted for 29% and two customers accounted for 23% of revenue, respectively.

Four customers accounted for 65% of current accounts receivable at September 30, 2024. At December 31, 2023, one customer accounted for 35% of current accounts receivable.

United States, Hong Kong and Nigeria

The Company recorded no income tax expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 because the estimated annual effective tax rate was zero. In determining the estimated annual effective income tax rate, the Company analyzes various factors, including projections of the Company’s annual earnings and taxing jurisdictions in which the earnings will be generated, the impact of state and local income taxes, the ability to use tax credits and net operating loss carry forwards, and available tax planning alternatives.

As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company provided a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets since the Company believes it is more likely than not that its deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Spain

Due to the current loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company did not record income taxes.  The deferred tax liability presented on the condensed consolidated balance sheet relates to intangible assets from the acquisition of Swivel Secure.

On November 7, 2024, the Company issued 7,761 shares of common stock to its directors in payment of meeting fees. Additionally, the Company issued an aggregate of 10,000 shares of restricted stock to new employees with three-year vesting. All the shares were issued at $1.16 the closing price on November 7, 2024, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market. 

The Company has reviewed subsequent events through the date of this filing. 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “estimate,” “will,” “may,” “future,” “plan,” “intend” and “expect” and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital to satisfy debt repayment obligations and working capital needs; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology and identity access management industries; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; our ability to convert sales opportunities to customer contracts; our ability to expand into Asia, Africa and other foreign markets; our ability to integrate the operations and personnel of Swivel Secure into our business; fluctuations in foreign currency and exchange rates; the duration and extent of continued hostilities in Ukraine and its impact on our European customers; delays in the development of products, the commercial, reputational and regulatory risks to our business that may arise as a consequence the restatement of our financial statements; if we fail to increase our stockholders' equity to at least $2.5 million, our common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market which could negatively impact the trading price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital, our temporary loss of the use of a Registration Statement on Form S-3 to register securities in the future; any disruption to our business that may occur on a longer-term basis should we be unable to remediate during fiscal year 2024 certain material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing, and numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other filings with the SEC. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the general or specific factors that may affect us. It should be recognized that other factors, including general economic factors and business strategies, may be significant, presently or in the future. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITIONS AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is provided as a supplement to and should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related information contained herein and our audited financial statements as of December 31, 2023.

Overview

BIO-key International, Inc. (the “Company,” “BIO-key,” “we,” or “us”) is a leading identity and access management, or IAM, platform provider enabling secure work-from-anywhere for enterprise, education, and government customers. Our vision is to enable any organization to secure streamlined and passwordless workforce, employee, customer, student and citizen access to any online service, workstation, or mobile application, without a requirement to use tokens or phones. Our products include PortalGuard® and PortalGuard Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) enterprise IAM, WEB-key® biometric civil and large-scale ID infrastructure, and accessory hardware to provide a complete solution for our customers.

Millions of people use BIO-key multi-factor-authentication, or MFA, solutions every day to securely access a variety of cloud, mobile and web applications, on-premise and cloud-based servers from all of their devices. We go beyond passwordless to offer phone-less and token-less authentication methods. This critical differentiator is particularly effective for retail, call center, manufacturing, shop-floor, and healthcare environments which utilize roving workers and shared workstations. Unlike most digital identity solutions, BIO-key also plays a role in securing in-person identity. For example, a banking customer has enrolled over 25 million of its customers’ biometrics with BIO-key as part of their know your customer, or KYC process, and then uses BIO-key fingerprint technology each time their customers access bank services to ensure positive identification before transacting with them.

BIO-key PortalGuard and hosted PortalGuard IDaaS authentication platforms enable our customers to assure that only the right people can access the right systems by utilizing our world-class biometric capabilities, among 17 other available authentication methods. PortalGuard goes beyond traditional MFA solutions by allowing roving users to biometrically authenticate at any workstation without using their phones or tokens which addresses sizeable security gaps, including eliminating unauthorized account delegation, detecting duplicate users, and accommodating in-person identification. 

Our customers use PortalGuard to manage and secure digital systems access by their employees, contractors and partners, which we call workforce identity. PortalGuard is also used to manage and secure the identities of an organization’s customers through integration of APIs we have developed and industry-standard federation standards, which we call customer identity. By using PortalGuard, our customers can securely collaborate with their supply chain and partners, and provide their customers with flexible, resilient user experiences online or in-person.

In 2022, we expanded our product offerings and customer base when we acquired Swivel Secure Europe, a Madrid, Spain based provider of IAM solutions. Swivel Secure Europe is a distributer of the AuthControl Sentry, AuthControl Enterprise, and AuthControl MSP product line in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, or EMEA, excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland. These solutions include PINsafe, a patented one-time-code extraction technology, helping enterprises manage the increasing data security risks posed by cloud services and “bring your own device” policies.

Large-scale customer and civil ID customers use our scalable biometric management platform and FBI-certified scanner hardware to manage enrollment, de-duplication and authentication for millions of users. 

We sell our branded USB fingerprint and FIDO authentication hardware as accessories to our IAM platforms, so that customers can have a single vendor providing all components of their IAM solution. Our fingerprint biometric platform is certified by NIST and unique among fingerprint platforms in that it supports mixing and matching of different manufactures’ fingerprint scanners in a deployment. This provides our customers with the flexibility to select the right scanner for their specific use case, without mandating the use of a particular scanner.

We operate a SaaS business model with customers subscribing to term use of our software for annual recurring revenue. We sell our products directly through our field and inside sales teams, as well as indirectly through our network of channel partners including resellers, system integrators, master agents and other distribution partners. Our subscription fees include a term license of hosted or on-premise product and technical support and maintenance of our platform. We base subscription fees primarily on the products used and the number of users enrolled in our platform. We generate subscription fees pursuant to noncancelable contracts with a weighted average duration of approximately one year.

Strategic Outlook

We plan to have a more significant role in the IAM market which continues to expand.  With the adoption of MFA as a cybersecurity requirement, nearly all enterprises are beginning to adopt MFA for their user bases. We plan to continue to offer customers a suite of authentication options that complement our biometric solutions. Our ability to add value to or replace the first-generation MFA solutions deployed by these enterprises with our phone-less and token-less biometrics sets us apart from a crowded field of phone- and token-based MFA solutions. We believe that as enterprises experience the lifecycle costs associated with managing tokens and passwords, they will have an economic incentivize to consider adding BIO-key PortalGuard to their IAM solution. PortalGuard will allow them to continue to use their existing FIDO devices, while selectively augmenting their authentication options with tokenless and phoneless biometric choices.

We expect to grow our business within government services and highly-regulated industries in which we have historically had a strong presence including financial services, higher education, and healthcare.  We believe that continued heightened security and privacy requirements in these industries, and as colleges and universities continue operating in remote environments, we will generate increased demand for security solutions, including biometrics. In addition, we expect that the compatible, yet superior portable biometric user experience offered by our technology for Windows 10 users will accelerate the demand for our computer network log-on solutions and fingerprint readers.  Through value add-offerings via direct sales, resellers, and strategic partnerships with leading higher education platform providers, we will continue to grow our installed base. Through Swivel Secure Europe, we also expect to grow our business in EMEA.

Our primary sales strategies are focused on (i) increased marketing efforts into the IAM market, (ii) dedicated pursuit of large-scale identification projects across the globe, and (iii) growing our channel alliance program which we have grown to more than one hundred and fifty participants and continues to generate incremental revenues.

A second component of our growth strategy is to pursue strategic acquisitions of select businesses and assets in the IAM space.  In furtherance of this strategy, we are active in the industry and regularly evaluate businesses that we believe will either provide an entry into new market verticals or be synergistic with our existing operations and in either case, be accretive to earnings.  We cannot provide any assurance as to whether we will be able to complete any acquisition and if completed, successfully integrate any business we acquire into our operations.

Recent Developments

The current trend of continued remote work environments increases the risk of unauthorized users, phishing attacks, and hackers who are eager to take advantage of the challenges of securing remote workers. A growing trend of security incidents that highlight potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities, additional regulatory requirements, and increasingly stringent Cyber Insurance underwriting standards that mandate enhanced security solutions has resulted in many businesses requiring MFA for their employees, partners and customers to access their business systems and data.  We believe that biometrics should continue to play a key role in remote user authentication.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

For detailed information regarding our critical accounting policies and estimates, see our financial statements and notes thereto included in this Report and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.  There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For detailed information regarding recent account pronouncements, see Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

THREE MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2024 AS COMPARED TO September 30, 2023

Consolidated Results of Operations - Percent Trend

Revenues and cost of goods sold

Revenues

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, service revenues included approximately $214,000 and $279,000, respectively, of recurring maintenance and support revenue, and approximately $53,000 and $291,000 respectively, of non-recurring custom services revenue.  Recurring service revenue decreased $65,000 or 24% in 2024 which was due to the loss of one large customer service agreement. Non-recurring custom services decreased 97% due to loss of one large customer for Swivel Secure customizations and upgrades. We expect the service revenue to remain at the current lower rate in future periods.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, license revenue increased $490,996 or 52% to $1,441,011 from $950,015 in the corresponding period in 2023 , as several long-term customers expanded their license deployments. 

Costs of goods sold

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, cost of service decreased approximately $14,000 or 11% to $110,723 from $125,039 in the three months ended September 30, 2023, due to reduced costs to support the PortalGuard and Swivel Secure deployments. For the three months ended September 30, 2024, license fees decreased to $146,732 from $253,891 in the three months ended September 30, 2023, due largely to a decrease in license fees for third-party software included in our Swivel Secure offerings. For the three months ended September 30, 2024, hardware costs increased to $207,655 from $97,674 in the three months ended September 30, 2023, related to increase of hardware revenue.

Selling, general and administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2024, decreased 9% from $1,776,305 in the corresponding period in 2023 to $1,607,925 in the current quarter.  The decreases included reductions in administration, sales personnel costs and marketing show expenses, offset by an increase in professional services incurred in connection with financing transactions.

Research, development and engineering

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, research, development, and engineering costs increased 23% to $652,174 compared to $529,757 in the corresponding period in 2023. The increase consisted primarily in an increase in personnel costs.

Other income (expense)

Other income (expense) for the three months ended September 30, 2024 consisted of interest income of $2 and interest expense of $98,556 comprised of approximately $4,200 on the government loan through the BBVA bank and the balance on the 2024 Note, and a loan fee amortization amount of $60,000. Other income (expense) for the three months ended September 30, 2023 consisted of interest income of $5,917, interest expense of $45,655 on the secured note payable and the government loan through the BBVA bank net of interest, and change in fair value of $167,283 on the convertible note payable. 

Nine MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2024 AS COMPARED TO September 30, 2023

Consolidated Results of Operations - Percent Trend