/EINPresswire.com/ -- SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/16/16 -- ImageWare Systems, Inc. (OTCQB: IWSY) (ImageWare), a leader in mobile and cloud-based, multi-modal biometric identity management solutions, has issued financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015, as well as a corporate update to highlight the company's progress since its last quarterly update on November 16, 2015.

Operational Highlights

• ImageWare Systems partnered with Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to integrate ImageWare's GoVerifyID with Aruba's ClearPass Policy Manager -- a multi-vendor, wired and wireless network access security solution for mobile and loT devices.
• Received a notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office that its "Multi-Modal Biometric Database Searching Methods" patent will be granted. This will represent ImageWare's 11th U.S. patent.

Management Commentary

"During the fourth quarter, we continued to make progress with our go-to-market partnership strategy," said Jim Miller, ImageWare's chairman and CEO. "As announced earlier this month, we integrated our GoVerifyID with Aruba's ClearPass Policy Manager -- a wired and wireless network access security solution used to manage over 65 million endpoint users. Not only does this partnership enable us to reach a large population on a global scale, it was also structured very differently compared to our past partnerships. In this instance, we were able to integrate the product and make ready for sale within a couple of days.

"From this point forward, we plan to execute our partnerships in the same manner in order to get our products out to the commercial market as fast as possible. We believe ImageWare offers the best all-around biometric product and according to Gartner, the world's leading IT research company, 30% of organizations will use biometric authentication for mobile devices by this year. With the biometric space beginning to move into the mainstream, we believe that all the right pieces of the puzzle are in place for ImageWare to grow our business."

Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2015 were $0.9 million compared to $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the decrease primarily due to reduced software royalty revenue from our channel partners for our traditional identification card software.

Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2015 was 40.2% compared to 79.0% in the fourth quarter of 2014. The decline was due to the write-off in the quarter of capitalized project expenses as their recoverability became questionable.

Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $2.6 million or $(0.03) per basic share, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million or ($0.02) per basic share in the fourth quarter of 2014.

At December 31, 2015, cash and cash equivalents totaled $3.4 million compared to $0.2 million at December 31, 2014. The increase is a result of the company's convertible preferred offering completed in February 2015.

Conference Call

ImageWare will hold a conference call today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (8:00 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss its fourth quarter 2015 results. The company's Chairman and CEO Jim Miller and CFO Wayne Wetherell will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (8:00 a.m. Pacific time)
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-877-874-1571
International dial-in number: 1-719-325-4772
Conference ID: 8622449

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Liolios Group at 1-949-574-3860.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay at
http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=118636 and via ImageWare's investor relations section at www.iwsinc.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available after 2:00 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow through April 17, 2016.

Toll-free replay number: 1-877-870-5176
International replay number: 1-858-384-5517
Replay ID: 8622449

About ImageWare Systems, Inc.

ImageWare Systems, Inc. (OTCQB: IWSY) is a leading developer of mobile and cloud-based identity management solutions, providing biometric, secure credential and law enforcement technologies. Scalable for worldwide deployment, ImageWare's biometric product line includes a multi-biometric engine that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. ImageWare's identification products are used to manage and issue secure credentials, including national IDs, passports, driver's licenses, smart cards and access control credentials. ImageWare's digital booking products provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint livescan and investigative capabilities. ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Portland, OR, Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Ontario. For more information on ImageWare Systems, Inc., please visit www.iwsinc.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "if," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to ImageWare Systems, Inc. ("ImageWare") are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. ImageWare may from time to time update these publicly announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so. Any projections of future results of operations should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in ImageWare's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 and its other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities 3 Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

                                               December 31,   December 31,
                                                   2015           2014
--------------------------------------------- -------------- --------------
Assets:
  Cash                                        $        3,352 $          218
  Accounts receivable, net                               349            266
  Inventories                                             46            916
  Other current assets                                    69             86
  Property and equipment, net                            162            211
  Other assets                                            98            153
  Intangible assets, net                                 117            144
  Goodwill                                             3,416          3,416
                                              -------------- --------------
Total Assets                                  $        7,609 $        5,410
                                              ============== ==============

Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity:
  Current liabilities                         $        2,406 $        3,299
  Convertible line of credit to related party
   net of discount                                         -          1,311
  Pension obligation                                   1,511          1,834
  Shareholders' equity (deficit)                       3,692         (1,034)
                                              -------------- --------------
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity    $        7,609 $        5,410
                                              ============== ==============

SELECTED COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
In thousands, except share and per share amounts
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Three Months Ended        Twelve Months Ended
                               December 31,              December 31,
                         ------------------------  ------------------------
                             2015         2014         2015         2014
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Revenues
  Product                $       241  $       557  $     2,192  $     1,634
  Maintenance                    661          683        2,577        2,525
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Total Revenues                   902        1,240        4,769        4,159

Cost of Revenue
  Product                        330           62        1,117          257
  Maintenance                    209          199          827          735
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------

Gross Profit                     363          979        2,825        3,167
                                  40%          79%          59%          76%
Operating Expenses
  General &
   administrative                826          958        3,437        3,818
  Sales and marketing            761          690        2,791        2,471
  Research and
   development                 1,293        1,104        4,643        4,495
  Depreciation and
   amortization                   41           45          164          179
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
    Total Operating
     Expenses                  2,921        2,797       11,035       10,963

                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Loss from operations          (2,558)      (1,818)      (8,210)      (7,796)

Interest (income)
 expense, net                     11          128          447          416
Other (income) expense,
 net                               0           (8)        (145)        (297)

                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Income (loss) from
 continuing operations
 before income taxes          (2,569)      (1,938)      (8,512)      (7,915)

Income taxes                      10           10           22           25

                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Income (loss) from
 continuing operations        (2,579)      (1,948)      (8,534)      (7,940)

Net income (loss)        $    (2,579) $    (1,948) $    (8,534) $    (7,940)
Preferred dividends             (253)         (13)      (1,065)         (51)
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
Net income (loss)
 available to common
 shareholders            $    (2,832) $    (1,961) $    (9,599) $    (7,991)
                         ===========  ===========  ===========  ===========

Per share data - basic
  Net income (loss) from
   continuing operations $     (0.03) $     (0.02) $     (0.09) $     (0.09)
  Preferred dividends              -            -        (0.01)           -
                         -----------  -----------  -----------  -----------
  Basic income (loss)
   per share available
   to common
   shareholders          $     (0.03) $     (0.02) $     (0.10) $     (0.09)
                         ===========  ===========  ===========  ===========

Basic weighted-average
 common shares            94,070,895   93,384,834   93,786,079   91,795,971

Investor Relations:
Liolios
Cody Slach
Tel 1-949-574-3860
Email Contact

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