Continued global expansion of EMV smart card programs helped to drive revenue and profit growth last year for Gemalto NV's Secure Transactions unit, which includes banking cards, the French smart card vendor said.
The unit generated $645.4 million in revenue in 2010, up 12.3% from the previous year. The unit's profit from operations totaled $57.5 million, up 249%, the company said Friday.
Gemalto attributed the unit's growth to an increase in countries migrating to EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications and to upgrades in some countries to dual-interface contactless payment cards. Gemalto expects these trends to continue this year.
Gemalto said in an earnings presentation that it expects mobile payments to contribute to growth this year. The company is involved in some 45 projects that deal with Near Field Communication payments.
As a company, Gemalto reported year-end revenue of $2.7 billion, up 18.8% from a year earlier. Net profit was up 34.1%, to $301.5 million.
