YPB says profitability on horizon as losses reduce

Authentication and consumer engagement specialist YPB Group has recorded the smallest loss in its history in the first half of the year, helped by a steep cut in its operating costs and a windfall payment.

Revenues rose by a third in the first half, which the company said was due to a $250,000 legal settlement for the use of the YPB's intellectual property by a third party, and excluding that revenue fell by around $114,000 due to softer orders by customers in Australia and China.

More important for the bottom line however was a 36% fall in net cash used in operations of $913,000, down from $1.4 million in the same period of 2022, which reduced the net loss by 69% to $813,000. The reduction came mainly from lower consulting costs and a reduction in staffing costs related to external finance services and a "non-performing" global distributor.

Among the highlights of the first half was YPB's entry into the instant lotteries market in the US with its YPB Tracer technology, deployed to prevent fraudulent ticket redemption in automated lottery ticket vending and payout machines. The module for use in OEM machines is currently in regulatory tests, said YPB.

The company also partnered with Rim-Lock Innovations, a company that develops retainers for use on heavy vehicle wheels to reduce the risk of accidents, to authenticate new and in-use parts as genuine.

YPB has just completed a $1.3 million financing round, with executive chairman John Houston putting up $500,000 of his own money, and cash stood at just over $1 million as of June 30.

"I'm delighted to be able to demonstrate to shareholders real progress toward our target of profitability," said Houston. "We will keep costs tightly controlled while driving new business revenue as rapidly as possible."