A strong third quarter for Optos has helped the Fife medical retinal imaging company to significantly cut debt to below $20 million.
The Dunfermline-based company saw headline revenues in the three months to June 30 push 5% ahead of the same period last year to $42m.
The firm said the growth was driven primarily by new customers to the brand whose flagship product is the Daytona imager and capital sales in direct markets.
Sales in the first nine months of the financial year are also marginally ahead at $114.7m, a 1.5% uplift on the $113.1m return of the previous year.
Optos said its new customer base had grown by 17% in the year to date up from 848 in 2013 to 992 while the total number of its imaging devices installed across the world had increased by 15% from 5,945 at the start of the financial year to 6,846.
Significantly, Optos said the increase in sales had allowed it to reduce its overall net debt to $19.5m at the close of the third quarter.
The figure is $26.5m lower than at the same juncture last year, and $16m below the $35.5m the group was still carrying at the end of the previous quarter in March.
Shares in the company which saw profits fall 60% to $9.5m following a “challenging” 2013, and which is implementing an efficiency programme that is expected to strip out $4m of costs in the current financial year lifted in early trading yesterday as investors showed they approved of the progress made.
Chief executive officer Roy Davis said he expected the firm to produce a further trading uplift in the last quarter of the year.
“We continue to see sustained demand for our unique ultra-widefield products, in particular within North America and Asia, resulting in a 15% increase in our installed base,” Mr Davis said.
“Cash generation was particularly strong in the quarter, reducing net debt to $20m which is significantly below this time last year, setting us in good stead for the year. As we enter into Q4, traditionally our strongest quarter, we remain confident on the outlook for the full year.”
Shares closed the day up 11p at 186p.