JDSU sees growth in anti-counterfeit technologies business

JDS Uniphase has seen "steadily rising demand" for its anti-counterfeit technologies in the second quarter of its fiscal year, with combined sales for pharmaceutical and currency applications rising around 13 per cent year-on-year.

The company's Advanced Optical Technologies (AOT) division, which encompasses its authentication and brand protection businesses, contributed $53.7m or 13 per cent of the company's total revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2011. Operating profit was steady at around $15m.

Currency protection and related applications makes up the lion's share of JDSU's AOT business via its Flex optically-variable pigment (OVP) technology, which is used on the currencies of more than 100 countries around the world, according to JDSU chief executive Thomas Waechter.

"We continue to see steadily rising demand for our optically variable pigments, driven largely by continued adoption of these products in banknote and other high-security anti-counterfeiting applications," he said in a conference call to discuss the second-quarter results.

The company said it is also encouraged by the take-up of its next generation product, optically variable magnetic pigment (OVMP), which is currently deployed in 12 currencies.

"OVMP's unique attributes enable banknote designers to add depth and motion effects that cannot be readily simulated by conventional printing techniques or by using conventional printing materials," said the company.

JDSU is planning to boost capacity for OVPs and OVMPs by around 25 per cent later this year with a new production line in its Beijing manufacturing facility that should be online in early 2013.

The company does not go into too much detail about its pharmaceutical operations for obvious reasons, but has a long-running collaboration with security ink specialist SICPA, which provides technology and services to a number of drugmakers.

Anti-counterfeiting technologies "represent a smaller portion of our revenue but are a significant contributor to profitability," said Waechter.

Across all its operations, which include broadband test and measurement solutions and optical products for communications, JDSU achieved second-quarter revenues of $413m, at the high end of management's guidance range.