Thinfilm Announces Financial Report for 1Q 2012

Interim report and financial statements for the first quarter 2012 are available now from Thin Film Electronics. In the first quarter of 2012, Thinfilm announced the first public application featuring printed memory cards and continued its progress towards full-scale commercialization of stand-alone memories by receiving the first order for a scalable array printed memory. In March 2012, Thinfilm raised capital from both new and existing shareholders to fund operations into 2014.

Highlights inlcuded the following:
• Successful first public application of Thinfilm memory cards at “Hiss-Pop” event: Exceptional participation in a live interactive adult game at Exploratorium in San Francisco.
• Continued commercial traction by receiving first order for scalable array memory from Japanese customer: Delivery of engineering quantities in Q2 2012.
• Received international recognition by winning both the Flexi Innovation Award for 2012 and the IDTechEx Product Development Award, PE Europe 2012: Strengthened industry leadership position.
• Raised capital to fund operations into 2014, from both new and existing shareholders: The placement closed in five hours and was substantially oversubscribed.

During the first quarter of 2012, Thinfilm took a step towards full commercialization of stand-alone memories by receiving the first order for a scalable array memory from a Japanese customer. The delivery of engineering quantities in Q2 2012 will mark an important milestone in Thinfilm’s roadmap as the passive array memory adds several advantages to the already commercially available 20-bit single-line memory.

In April 2012, Thinfilm also received a new commercial order for a parts identification prototype system that will utilize printed rewritable memory. The prototypes will use Thinfilm Memory to identify parts contained in custom manufactured hardware and will be delivered to the customer, an international manufacturer of security products, in Q2 2012.

“These orders do not only demonstrate the stand-alone attractiveness of our memory technology, but also prove customer pull and commercial market opportunities outside the industries we have been targeted so far,” says Davor Sutija, Thinfilm CEO.

In the first quarter, Thinfilm also passed several milestones, and continued its progress towards enabling integrated systems and smart tags for the “Internet of Things” (IoT). In January, Thinfilm announced partnerships with PST Sensors, Acreo and Imprint Energy, each of which has components for system integration that cost pennies per tag; i.e., printed temperature sensor, display and battery for 1.5-3.0 cents each. The development work of incorporating these low-cost components into the first integrated system prototype, a temperature sensor tag, continued during the first quarter and is on schedule for completion in 2012.

In March, Thinfilm completed a successful substantially over-subscribed funding round which raised a total of NOK 72.5 million ($12.3 million) (including proposed warrants which would raise gross NOK 27.5 million, or $4.7 million). This founding round, together with the outstanding warrants from the private placement in October 2010, which would raise gross NOK 23.1 million ($3.9 million), would fund operations of the company into 2014 if the proposed and outstanding warrants are exercised.

“The resolved financing situation provides the company with longer term stability to focus on what it does best: Develop groundbreaking technology for mass production of low-cost, low-power, ubiquitous smart tags,” concluded Torgrim Takle, Thinfilm CFO.