SMARTRAC ships 10th million ePassport inlay and is the world’s largest supplier for electronic passports

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ots-CorporateNews transmitted by euro adhoc.
The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DE Amsterdam (euro adhoc) - Amsterdam, 9 October 2006. SMARTRAC, the inventor of
inlays for electronic passports, is the first company worldwide to ship more
than ten million ePassport inlays to its customers. SMARTRAC is the world’s
largest supplier of inlays for ePassports and is benefiting from the
accelerating introduction of electronic passports. The company has been listed
in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 20 July 2006, and
recently registered DURASOFT® as a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark
Office. DURASOFT® is a novel multi-layer inlay material specially developed for
ePassports.

"We are ideally positioned for the coming boom in electronic passports, and we
are setting standards with our high-security technology," said Manfred Rietzler,
CEO of SMARTRAC N.V. "With that, we play a key role in the development of this
growth market, and are constantly expanding our capacities in the field of
ePassport inlays so that we can satisfy strong global demand." According to a
recent forecast by market analysts Frost & Sullivan, around 50 million
ePassports/ ID-Cards will be in circulation by 2007.

20 countries already rely on SMARTRAC inlay products for their ePassport
programs. That includes the US ePassport program, which is now starting.
SMARTRAC Inlay products have been certified for this program since 2004.

The worldwide introduction of ePassports will now be additionally accelerated by
the US authorities’ regulations on visa-waiving countries. According to these
regulations, the 27 countries whose citizens can enter the United States without
a visa will have to start introducing electronic passports by 26 October this
year at the latest.

SMARTRAC’s ePassport inlays are a key component of the new ePassports and enable
data storage and contactless data transfer. "The technology we have developed
offers solutions for all passport programs currently in existence," said
Rietzler. SMARTRAC supplies high-quality ePassport inlays in the paper-like
Durasoft® material and also in paper and textile fabric.

On 16 August 2006, SMARTRAC reported that this year’s first-half revenues
(January to June) nearly doubled compared with the same period of 2005, to EUR
22.5 million, while first-half earnings (Group EBITDA) more than tripled to EUR
4.7 million. The company has been profitable every year since it was founded.

About SMARTRAC N.V.
SMARTRAC is a leading supplier of inlays for contactless credit cards (ePayment)
and passports with integrated contactless chips (ePassports). The company, which
was founded in 2000, is incorporated under Dutch law and has its head office in
Amsterdam. SMARTRAC has its main production and R&D centre in Bangkok
(Thailand), as well as sales offices in Stuttgart and Singapore. Through an
agreement with Xytec Solutions (Kulim, Malaysia), in which SMARTRAC holds a 30%
stake, the company has exclusive access to proprietary manufacturing equipment.
In two product segments - Standard and High Security - SMARTRAC manufactures
components for RFID applications in public transport, access control and
logistics, as well as in the high-security applications of ePayment and
ePassports.

Further inquiry note:
Max Hohenberg
Media Relations SMARTRAC N.V.
Tel: +49 711 6569 2616
Email: [email protected]

end of announcement euro adhoc 09.10.2006 14:23:26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

emitter: SMARTRAC N.V.
Parnassusweg 103
NL-1077 DE Amsterdam
phone: +31 20 57 888 38
FAX: +31 20 57 888 39
mail: [email protected]
WWW: http://www.smartrac-group.com
ISIN: NL0000186633
indexes:
stockmarkets: official dealing/prime standard: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, free
trade: Börse Berlin-Bremen, Baden-Württembergische
Wertpapierbörse, Börse Düsseldorf, Bayerische Börse
sector: Technology
language: English

OTS-ORIGINALTEXT PRESSEAUSSENDUNG UNTER AUSSCHLIESSLICHER INHALTLICHER VERANTWORTUNG DES AUSSENDERS - WWW.OTS.AT | CNE

print