Optos looks to invest as revenues jump 37%

By DOMINIC JEFF
Published on 21/11/2012 21:30

EYE scanner firm Optos said it was stepping up research into more portable devices as it surprised the market with a bigger-than-expected jump in revenues yesterday.

The Dunfermline-based company saw income rise 37 per cent to $196.4 million (£123.5m) in the year to the end of September. It confirmed it had cleared a backlog in the production of its new portable eye scanner, delivering 329 of the Daytona devices, which it began assembling during the summer.

Pre-tax profits for the year to 30 September rose 6 per cent to $23.4m, with initial delays in the production of the Daytona, and the necessity to work double shifts to catch up, eroding the firm’s margins.

Chief executive Roy Davis said the firm expected to see an improvement in gross margin in the current year as production is scaled up. It increased investment in research and development last year and Davis said it would continue to invest in the current year. The group is working on a device integrating its own technology with that acquired when it bought OPKO Health last year.

Davis said: “We will be at the forefront of ophthalmology and optometry technology.”

Optos’ main market has been the US so far, and Davis said that there was a huge opportunity to expand its sales. He said the advent of more portable and easily installed devices meant Optos could enlist a network of distributors to drive global growth.