LUND, Sweden, April 17, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- At the annual general meeting of Precise Biometrics, Christer Bergman, CEO, described the development in the market for biometrics and for the company. "The company must continue to focus on customers and sales over the coming year," he said.
Christer Bergman, CEO, described 2001 as a year of change for Precise Biometrics. It was the year in which the company switched from being technology-based and product-oriented to being customer-based and project-oriented. Precise Biometrics is on its way into a commercial phase in which previous investments in technology begin to generate results in the form of increased sales.
Decision on authorization for new share issue
The general meeting unanimously authorized the Board to take decisions before the next annual general meeting with a view to increasing the share capital in the company by a maximum of SEK 156,000 through a new share issue of no more than 390,000 A-shares. Decisions may be taken on one or more occasions within the stated timeframe. It is to be possible to complete the issue without preferential rights for existing shareholders and on the basis of both cash and non-cash payments. Full utilization of this authorization corresponds to a dilution effect of approximately 9.9 percent on both capital and votes.
The purposes of this authorization and the precedent for not applying preferential rights for existing shareholders are to allow the Board to use shares in the company as payment for corporate acquisitions and, in a flexible manner, to generate capital for the company with a view to future expansion and investments. The issue price for the new shares is to be set on the basis of market conditions for the company, with due consideration for market issue discount.
In addition, the general meeting unanimously authorized the Board to take decisions before the next annual general meeting with a view to increasing the share capital in the company by issuing A-shares to a total issue liquidity value of no more than SEK 100,000,000 (one hundred million Swedish kronor). Decisions may be taken on one or more occasions within the stated timeframe. This issue is to be carried out with preferential rights for existing shareholders and for cash payment.
Elections to the Board
Henrik Holm, founder of the IT company ProAct, was proposed as a new member of the Board of Precise Biometrics. Nils Ljung, who has been a member of the Precise Biometrics board since 1998 stated that he would not stand for re-election. The following people were thus elected to the Board of Precise Biometrics AB:
Christer Lindberg, Chairman, re-elected
Nils Bernhard, member, re-elected
Christer Fahraeus, member, re-elected
Nils Sandstedt, member, re-elected
Lars Granberg, member, re-elected
Henrik Holm, member, newly elected
Directors' fees
Fees paid to members of the Board who are not employed by the company total SEK 525,000 for fiscal 2001, to be distributed at the Board's discretion.
Dividend
The general meeting decided that no dividend was to be paid for fiscal 2001.
Quarterly report
The interim report for the period January - March 2002 was presented in connection with the general meeting and published in a separate press release.
Precise Biometrics is an innovative security company that supplies world-leading systems for authentication using fingerprints. The solutions supplied by the company replace keys, PIN codes and passwords. The company's products are cost effective and provide security and comfort combined with top-class protection of personal integrity. The range of products includes systems for access control to computers and networks and for building into mobile and terminals, such as mobile phones and portable computers. The company headquarters are in Lund, Sweden. The company also has offices in Stockholm and a U.S. subsidiary in Washington, D.C. Precise Biometrics is listed on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange (symbol: PREC A). For additional information, visit www.precisebiometrics.com