ParkerVision reports rare annual profit

ParkerVision Inc., which has no products on the market, reported a rare annual profit because of proceeds from a lawsuit settlement in early 2023.

The Jacksonville-based developer of wireless technology said March 21 it ended 2023 with net income of $9.5 million, or 8 cents per share.

ParkerVision has been focused on patent infringement lawsuits against major telecommunications companies, alleging they have illegally used the company's wireless technology.

The 2023 profit resulted from a $25 million payment in March from a patent licensing and settlement agreement to resolve litigation.

ParkerVision never revealed details of the settlement but the agreement coincided with ParkerVision's dismissal of lawsuits against Intel Corp.

"We continue to pursue licensing arrangements with third parties, both with and without enforcement actions," CEO Jeff Parker said in a news release.

He said ParkerVision has a jury trial scheduled in December in one case against MediaTek Inc. and another trial scheduled for January 2025 against Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

The company is also awaiting a ruling on an appeal in a case against Qualcomm Inc. that was dismissed by a federal court judge two years ago.

Parker said last year's licensing settlement allowed the company to pay off some debt and also restructure debt agreements.

ParkerVision, founded in 1989, has offered several products for sale with its technology over the years. The most recent was an in-home Wi-Fi device called Milo introduced in the fall of 2017.

The company discontinued the product in April 2019 after disappointing sales, and the company has solely focused on its patent infringement lawsuits since then.

ParkerVision's annual report said it had seven full-time employees and one part-time employee.

Paysafe mentions Jacksonville in its annual report

Paysafe Ltd. does not discuss its North American headquarters in Jacksonville in its financial reports or quarterly conference calls, but the London-based company did mention Jacksonville in its annual report.

The payment processing services company leases space for its North American office in a building owned by Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc.

"In December 2022, we entered into a 63-month lease agreement in Jacksonville, Florida, with Dun & Bradstreet, as lessor," the annual report said, Paysafe's only reference to its Jacksonville operations.

The sentence is part of a note on related party transactions and it highlights Paysafe's connections to several other Jacksonville-based companies.

Paysafe went public in 2021 by merging with a special purpose acquisition company formed by Bill Foley, chairman of Jacksonville-based title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc.

Fidelity controls 6% of Paysafe's stock, according to the annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 20.

The report also said Cannae Holdings Inc., the investment company spun off from Fidelity, owns 5% of Paysafe's stock.

Cannae controls 15.7% of Jacksonville-based Dun & Bradstreet's stock and the business data company is described in Paysafe's annual report as an "affiliate" of Cannae.

Dun & Bradstreet CEO Anthony Jabbour is a member of Paysafe's board of directors.

Paysafe is leasing 38,000 square feet of space in Dun & Bradstreet's six-story headquarters building known as Town Center Two at 5335 Gate Parkway on Jacksonville's Southside.

In addition to leasing its office space from the company, Paysafe's annual report said it entered into a 10-year deal in September 2021 for Dun & Bradstreet to provide data license and risk management solution services.

Paysafe spent $12.8 million for those services in 2023.

Paysafe reported 2023 revenue rose 7% to $1.6 billion, with adjusted earnings rising by 8 cents a share to $2.33.

"We've made great progress across the board, resulting in growth in our key financial metrics while also reducing our debt and leverage," CEO Bruce Lowthers said in Paysafe's year-end conference call with analysts March 7.

Paysafe projects 2024 revenue to reach $1.688 billion to $1.712 billion.

"We see significant value potential in Paysafe, with a lot of runway to accelerate growth," Lowthers said.

"We maintain strong market positions in high-value markets. We serve a premier global client base with significant cross-selling opportunities across our geographies."

Lowthers also is closely connected to Jacksonville and Fidelity. He was previously president of Jacksonville-based financial technology firm Fidelity National Information Services Inc., a company spun off from Fidelity National Financial.

Lowthers announced one big Florida deal in the conference call.

"We are pleased to have expanded our relationship with Hard Rock Bet into the newly relaunched Florida market, which is now the largest state with legalized sports betting and anticipated to be one of the largest sports betting markets in the U.S.," he said.

Paysafe said including Florida, it added processing services for gaming in seven new states in 2023 and now serves 32 U.S. states and territories.

"We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with Hard Rock, supporting online payments for its players," Lowthers said.

Cannae cuts stake in Dun & Bradstreet

Cannae said in a March 20 SEC filing it sold off part of its stake in Dun & Bradstreet.

The filing said a Cannae affiliate sold 10 million shares of Dun & Bradstreet for $10.09 each March 18.

The sale leaves Cannae in control of 69,048,691 shares, or 15.7% of Dun & Bradstreet.

Shoe Carnival sales slip in Q4

Shoe Carnival Inc. reported lower sales and earnings for its fourth quarter ended Feb. 3.

The footwear chain controlled by former Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said sales fell 3.6% to $280.2 million, with sales at stores open for more than one year dropping 9.4%.

Shoe Carnival said it had strong sales growth in the December holiday period but trends were soft before the holiday, and weather disruptions affected sales in January.

Adjusted earnings of 50 cents per share were 20 cents lower than the previous year.

The company operated 372 Shoe Carnival stores at the end of the fiscal year and 28 Shoe Station locations.

On Feb. 13, Shoe Carnival acquired Rogan Shoes Inc., which had 28 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

The Rogan's stores will be integrated into the Shoe Station brand.

"Rogan's will be immediately accretive to our results in 2024 and the level of accretion is expected to meaningfully increase in 2025," CEO Mark Worden said in a March 21 news release.

"The integration progress to date has been encouraging," he said.

With the addition of those stores, Shoe Carnival is projecting fiscal 2024 sales of $1.21 billion to $1.25 billion, up from $1.176 billion in 2023.

Adjusted earnings are projected in a range of $2.55 to $2.75 a share, compared with $2.70 in fiscal 2023.

Weaver is chairman of Evansville, Indiana-based Shoe Carnival and its largest shareholder.

He and his wife, Delores, own 32.8% of the stock.

Shepherd's Finance earnings rise

Shepherd's Finance LLC reported higher earnings for 2023.

The Jacksonville-based commercial lending company, which serves the residential construction and development market, had net income of $2.6 million, up from $1.8 million in 2022.

"We continued to improve our profitability in 2023," CEO Daniel Wallach said in a March 22 news release.

"We are working to maintain or increase profit in 2024 through our continued efforts in sales and margin, and our focus on the reduction of credit losses; however, we are unsure how current interest, inflation and global security concerns may impact the Company," he said.