Optos raises production as Daytona orders defy earlier fears

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 19/07/2012 00:00

EYE scanner maker Optos is ramping up production of its new Daytona desk-top device to cope with early demand for the product.

The Dunfermline-based company, which makes machines for taking pictures of the back of patients’ eyes, will formally launch Daytona on 1 October.

Already the firm said it has orders for 360 devices, of which 280 are due to be shipped in the current financial year, with 40 having already been completed.

Chief executive Roy Davis said: “This quarter has largely been about the manufacturing scale-up of Daytona and ensuring we have sufficient capacity to efficiently fulfil orders.

“We remain on track to deliver against our Daytona order book and look forward to the full sales launch for the product planned for October.”

Figures released yesterday showed that sales during the nine months to 30 June jumped by 24 per cent to $127.1 million (£81.2m) as the company continues to shift from renting out its devices to selling them to eye doctors. On a like-for-like basis, turnover rose by 7 per cent, with $17m of orders for Daytona not included in the total.

Davis added: “Our customer base continues to grow, underpinned by demand for all our core products. In particular, we are pleased with the market reception to Daytona following its initial launch and our order book continues to grow.”

Optos stunned the City in May by unveiling a surprise rise in costs, which ate into margins and sent its share price tumbling by 18 per cent when it unveiled its half-year results. Analysts were generally more upbeat following yesterday’s third-quarter trading update though.

Charles Weston, an analyst at Numis, said: “There is scope for the company to beat our $181m full-year sales estimate. Optos shares have performed very poorly since the cost surprise at the interim results, but we believe underlying operational performance has been solid and we expect, with full sales launch of Daytona in October, cash flows will improve.”