Companies: RCG   

Hong Kong-based biometrics group RC, bossed by flamboyant chief executive Dr Raymond Chu, joined AIM via a £1m placing last July. Recent prelim figures for 2004 were encouraging, with profits surging 80% to $32.2m (£2.2m), turnover lifted 37% to $45m (£3.1m) as gross margins rose by one percentage point to 71.6%. Chu has been delivering biometric identification systems - which identify humans by retinal scan, fingerprint or DNA sequences - to South-East Asian clients for years. Now, with RC's product range and skills growing, he is eyeing a push into the UK, Germany and Italy through a recently opened London office. The inclusion of radio frequency identifications (RFID) technology into the product suite lends further credence to the growth story. Chu believes the everyday use of biometrics and RFID 'is coming', buoyed by heightened security fears post-9/11 and by rising levels of fraud. He likens the take-up to the adoption of e-mail and the internet. By 2009, forecasts suggest the total global sales for biometrics will be US$3.5bn, with the global RFID market set to grow to almost US$10bn. Apparently, US retail giant Wal-Mart is about to use RFID technology, a move that will spur on others to adopt the technology. For the current year, analysts predict profits of $72.4m on a top-line jump to $130m. An eye catching investment indeed.