[年报]熵基科技(301330):熵基科技股份有限公司2024年年度报告（英文版）
原标题:熵基科技:熵基科技股份有限公司2024年年度报告（英文版） 2024 Annual Report Announcement No.: 2025-037 April 2025 Agilely embracing changes, building customer lifetime value with AI and cloud services A Letter to Shareholders In 2024, ZKTeco continued to invest in and develop along the main trajectory of high-quality development, which focuses on "establishing a service system based on the self-innovated Minerva IoT while emphasizing the lifetime value of customers through BioCV AI productivity." Over the past year, ZKTeco has made significant strides by advancing product concepts, optimizing service details, and continuously innovating. The Company has consistently introduced new application scenarios. Guided by a commitment to continuous innovation and zero-based thinking, ZKTeco staff have steadily progressed various business initiatives with a focus on stable innovation and ongoing excellence. This effort culminates in a straightforward yet impactful report card presented to our shareholders. In 2024, the Company achieved operating revenue of RMB 1,991.2004 million, a YoY increase of 1.07%, and realized a net profit attributable to the parent company of RMB 183.046 million, a YoY increase of 3.26%. While the data may not be extraordinary, this accomplishment is a testament to the hard work and dedication of ZKTeco staff. Here, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our colleagues, users, partners, and investors who have supported ZKTeco. Your collaboration has been invaluable as we navigated challenges together and seized opportunities over the past year. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to advancing alongside ZKTeco. In 2024, the Company remained committed to its development objectives of precision, expansiveness, and excellence. We concentrated on refining our core business with meticulous attention to detail, cultivating a robust ecosystem through broad engagement, and driving innovation with elevated aspirations. We have integrated products, ecosystems, and services into a cohesive solution, achieving innovative applications in the BioCV unmanned management scenarios at the industry's general entry and exit points. Additionally, we have endeavored to transform ZKTeco's offline platform of high-quality screens into cloud services within the smart retail sector. Through ongoing technological innovation in core computer vision technologies and edge-side multimodal AI human- computer interaction, we have facilitated the enhancement of our products and solutions. This has led to significant opportunities and breakthroughs for multimodal AI technology within the "end-edge-cloud-service" framework related to entry and exit operations. In 2024, we established ZKTeco Cloud Brain-Computer (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. to conduct research and integrate multimodal data, including biometric iris and retina information, EEG data, clinical records, and genetic data. Utilizing advanced deep learning and data mining technologies for comprehensive analysis, we explored the correlations and potential patterns among various data modalities. This innovative approach enabled us to develop new technologies and products aimed at enhancing technical research and exploring treatment methodologies in the fields of education, healthcare, and elderly care. In 2025, as the wave of artificial intelligence and large models sweeps across the globe, propelling human society into a new era of AIoT at an unprecedented pace, ZKTeco will undertake a comprehensive integration of customer value within the realm of AI intelligence and ultimately to cognition. The Company will prioritize R&D as well as optimization of BioCV TinyML (micro multimodal learning) edge models. The Company is dedicated to integrating autonomous decision-making and evolutionary capabilities into edge devices, thereby enhancing ZKTeco's spatial cognition in the perception of scenarios involving "people, vehicles, objects, and environments." In 2025, ZKTeco will continue to deeply integrate AI cognitive technology with multimodal biometrics and computer vision technologies. This integration assists enterprises in optimizing their time, space, and resources while enhancing the intelligence of products and user experiences. Furthermore, it will improve operational efficiency by bridging the physical world with the digital realm. ZKTeco's achievements in innovation are not only evident in the continuous expansion and optimization of product functionalities but also in the redefinition and establishment of industry standards. This ensures the Company's technological leadership while providing users with enhanced experiences that are more comfortable, intelligent, safe, and conducive to sustainable development. Furthermore, these advancements promote industrial innovation and usher in a new era of coexistence between humanity and space. As a global leader in intelligent space evolution services, ZKTeco is poised to transform the industry landscape through innovative strategies. We will adeptly navigate changes and enhance customer lifetime value by leveraging AI and cloud services, thereby setting the course for future development trends. We are committed to meeting the expectations of all our investors! Chairman Che Quanhong 2024 Annual Report Section I Important Notes, Contents and Definitions The Board of Directors, the Board of Supervisors, directors, supervisors and senior managers guarantee that the information presented in this report is true, accurate and complete without any false records, misleading statements or material omissions, and will undertake individual and joint legal liabilities. The Company's legal representative, Jin Hairong, the person in charge of the accounting work, Wang Youwu, and the person in charge of accounting institution (accounting supervisor), Xu Ping, hereby declare that the financial information in this report is true, accurate and complete. All directors have attended the board meeting to review this report. The forward-looking statements regarding future plans in this annual report do not constitute substantial commitments of the Company to investors. Investors are advised to pay attention to investment risks. Investors are advised to refer to the full text of this annual report and pay special attention to the content of "Section III Management Discussion and Analysis XI. Prospects for the Future Development of the Company (III) Possible Risks and Countermeasures" in this annual report. The profit distribution proposal passed upon deliberation at the meeting of the Board of Directors is set out as follows: Based on the total share capital on the registration date of future equity distribution, after deducting the repurchased shares in the Company's repurchase account, the Company proposed to distribute cash dividend of RMB 5 (tax inclusive) per 10 shares to all shareholders. There will be no bonus shares. Capital reserve will be converted into 2 shares of share capital per 10 shares to all shareholders. Table of Contents Section I Important Notes, Contents and Definitions................................................................................... 4 Section II Company Profile and Key Financial Indicators ......................................................................... 11 Section III Management Discussion and Analysis ...................................................................................... 16 Section IV Corporate Governance ............................................................................................................. 103 Section V Environmental and Social Responsibility................................................................................. 127 Section VI Significant Events ..................................................................................................................... 128 Section VII Changes in Shares and Information about Shareholders .................................................... 152 Section VIII Information of Preferred Shares .......................................................................................... 165 Section IX Bonds.......................................................................................................................................... 166 Section X Financial Report ......................................................................................................................... 167 Documents Available for Inspection I. Financial statements affixed with official stamps and the signatures of the Company’s legal representative, the person in charge of accounting and the charge of accounting institution (accounting supervisor) of the Company. II. Original of the audit report affixed with the stamp of the accounting firm as well as stamps and signatures of the certified public accountants. III. All original copies of the Company's documents and the original drafts of the Company's announcements as disclosed on websites designated by the CSRC during the reporting period. IV. Other relevant documents. Place for document inspection: Office of the Company's Board of Directors Definitions
to rounding reasons. Section II Company Profile and Key Financial Indicators I. Company Information
Accounting firm engaged by the Company
?Applicable □ Not applicable
□ Applicable ?Not applicable V. Main Accounting Data and Financial Indicators Whether the Company performed a retroactive adjustment or restatement of the previous accounting data □ Yes ? No
negative, and the audit report in the last year shows that there is uncertainty in the Company's ability to continue as a going concern □ Yes ?No The lower of the net profit before and after deducting non-recurring profits and losses is negative □ Yes ?No VI. Main Financial Indicators by Quarter Unit: RMB
related to the disclosed quarterly and semi-annual reports of the Company □ Yes ?No VII. Differences in Accounting Data under Domestic and Foreign Accounting Standards 1. Differences in net profit and net assets in financial reports disclosed in accordance with international accounting standards and Chinese accounting standards □ Applicable ?Not applicable During the reporting period, there were no differences in net profit and net assets between the financial reports disclosed in accordance with international accounting standards and Chinese accounting standards. 2. Differences in net profit and net assets in financial reports disclosed in accordance with foreign accounting standards and Chinese accounting standards □ Applicable ?Not applicable During the reporting period, there were no differences in net profit and net assets between the financial reports disclosed in accordance with foreign accounting standards and Chinese accounting standards. VIII. Items and Amounts of Non-recurring Gains and Losses ?Applicable □ Not applicable Unit: RMB
□ Applicable ?Not applicable The Company has no specific situation of other profit and loss items that meet the definition of non-recurring profits and losses. Explanations on defining the non-recurring profit and loss items listed in the "Explanatory Announcement for Information Disclosure by Companies that Issue Securities to the Public No. 1 - Non-recurring Profits and Losses" as recurring profit and loss items □ Applicable ?Not applicable The Company has no situation where the non-recurring profit and loss items listed in the "Explanatory Announcement for Information Disclosure by Companies that Issue Securities to the Public No. 1 - Non-recurring Profits and Losses" are defined as recurring profit and loss items. Section III Management Discussion and Analysis I. Industry situation of the Company during the reporting period (I) Basic situation of the industry of the Company As an internationally recognized innovative enterprise, the Company has consistently committed itself to the domains of smart space, smart office, digital identity authentication, and smart business. We provide advanced smart terminals, industry-specific application software, and platforms equipped with object detection as well as identity recognition and verification capabilities tailored for relevant sectors. We apply multimodal BioCV (computer vision and biometrics) and AI cognitive space computing technologies to build a comprehensive perception system, promoting the transformation of space from static management to autonomous decision- making and evolution, and bringing comfortable, intelligent, safe and sustainable scene experiences to global customers. In light of the rapid advancements characterizing the intelligent era, the Company has officially unveiled its new mission and vision, with its robust AI cognitive technology serving as the core driving force. Based on this, the Company comprehensively upgraded its business system and built four strategic sectors: smart space, smart office, digital identity authentication, and smart business. This significant initiative marks the official commencement of the Company's new journey to redefine its value system. It will continuously explore the realm of intelligence, striving to create enhanced value for customers and set new trends within the industry. The downstream end users of the Company involve numerous industries, diverse customer types and a wide range of application scenarios. Therefore, there is no obvious periodicity. (II) Industry development status of the main application areas of the products 1. Global biometric industry situation in 2024 (1) Global market overview The global biometric market size was USD 45.09 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 173.08 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4% (source: IMARC Group). The main growth drivers of the global market include: ① The continuous advancement of edge computing and AI chips has markedly improved the precision of facial recognition and gait behavior analysis, as well as expanded their range of application scenarios. ② The combination of multimodal biometric technologies with multiple biological features (such as fingerprint + face + iris) has further enhanced security and reliability. For instance, multimodal systems in airport security inspections combine facial recognition with iris scanning to reduce error rates and improve clearance efficiency. ③ The integration of non-contact biometric technologies with the financial industry, such as the binding of biometric features for payment verification in digital currency and cashless societies, Amazon's "Payment by Stretching out Your Hand" palm recognition in unmanned stores, and WeChat's palm payment terminals in major chain convenience stores. ④ Policy support and industry standardization. Governments promote technology application through policy support and standard setting. For example, China's "Development Planning for a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence" explicitly supports biometric technology R&D. The EU's GDPR strengthens the protection of biometric data privacy, forcing enterprises to optimize security technologies such as encrypted storage and dynamic biometric feature updates. ⑤ The diversified application scenarios are expanded from traditional security and finance to emerging fields such as smart cities, healthcare, and education. For instance, in healthcare, iris recognition is used for patient identity verification to prevent medical record confusion; in education, facial recognition is used for classroom attendance and examination invigilation (such as in smart classrooms in some Chinese universities). (2) Global development of biometric technology Global biometric technology is undergoing continuous evolution and emergence, particularly evident in the following aspects: ① Multimodal biometric technology improves recognition accuracy and security by combining multiple biological features (such as fingerprint, face, iris, and voiceprint). The core of this technology lies in information fusion, which can be conducted at different levels, including sensor level, feature level, matching score level, rank level, and decision level. Multimodal biometric technology can cover more application scenarios and populations, achieving significant improvements in accuracy, efficiency, and user experience, thereby meeting the demands of high security and convenience. ② Non-contact biometric technology uses machine sensors for identity verification without manual contact. The demand for this technology is increasing in areas such as smart cities, smart homes, e-commerce, financial services, and mobile payments. The market for non-contact biometric technology is growing rapidly. Especially in recent years with the occurrence of public health events, the demand for this technology has further increased. As the technology continues to advance and costs decrease, the application scope of non-contact biometric technology will further expand. ③ The integration of biometric technology with AI is leading a new trend. This fusion technology improves the accuracy and efficiency of biometric systems by introducing AI technologies such as deep learning and computer vision. For example, AI can optimize data processing, reduce false rates, and improve the accuracy and precision of facial detection systems in complex environments. AI can also mine potential patterns from large amounts of historical data to achieve more accurate population profiling, which can assist enterprises in making marketing decisions in the retail sector. ④ With the popularization of edge computing and edge intelligence, biometric technology is shifting from cloud-based to edge and end side computing architectures. This transformation moves most of the computing and storage processes to local edge and end side devices, significantly reducing network transmission latency compared to remote cloud services. This localized processing model can better meet the demands of real-time control and other latency-sensitive edge intelligence applications. Since only the calculation results need to be sent back to the cloud, this model has a relatively low requirement for network bandwidth. Moreover, when the network is unstable or interrupted, the edge devices can still operate independently all or part of their functions, effectively reducing the impact of network fluctuations on applications and demonstrating stronger network adaptability. This architecture not only achieves low latency through local processing but also avoids potential privacy risks by reducing data transmission across the network, providing more efficient and reliable technical support for edge intelligence applications. The development of global biometric technology shows trends such as multimodal, non-contact, AI integration, and edge side migration. These technological advancements not only enhance the accuracy and security of identity verification but also expand its application scope, driving continuous market growth. (3) The application situation of the global biometric industry From a regional distribution perspective, the application of global biometric technology shows significant regional differences. （未完）  |