DERMOT DESMOND may not be happy with events in Dublin Castle this week, but results from one of his technology investments may provide some cheery distraction.
The UK subsidiary of Daon, a biometrics firm backed by the financier, saw a surge in sales last year, with turnover rising by 147 per cent to almost €2 million. The company (the only one in the Daon group to publish accounts) failed to translate this into a positive bottom line, but losses were reduced, from €8,417 to €6,608. Shareholders’ funds rose by 15 per cent to end 2009 at €192,009.
Outside the numbers, there is a sense that Daon (the Celtic word for human being, according to its website) could be in the midst of a transformative time. Its customers are government entities or transport groups, which need to identify individuals by scanning physical characteristics such as faces, irises or fingerprints.
Within a relatively short period, contracts have been won this year in Alabama, New Zealand and India.
The Alabama programme involves checking criminal histories, while the New Zealand contract is with immigration authorities. The big cheese, however, is India, where Daon is part of a consortium implementing “the largest identity management programme in the world”.
The initiative’s goal is to provide each Indian resident (all 1.2 billion of them) with a unique ID number. It is a huge project and should make some difference to Daon’s numbers next time Desmond needs some positive distraction.
