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Scottish firm Optos reported a 40 per cent rise in revenue to $67.7m over the previous year.

The company now has 232 employees and an installed base of 2,593 P200 devices in its markets of North America (2,475 devices) and Europe. Its contract renewal rate was 89 per cent, consistent with 2005.

Optos also reported losses before tax reduced by 58 per cent to $1.1m for the full year, making a transition into profit before tax of $1.5m for the second half of the year.

North America is the company's largest opportunity, with revenues up by 41 per cent to $64.7m $59.3m in the US and $5.4m in Canada. Optos has an agreement with Lenscrafters in the US, with 60 devices installed, while seven of the 16 optometry schools now use the device.

Revenues in Europe grew by 24 per cent to $3m, with $2.3m generated in the UK and $0.7m in Germany. However, it pointed out that the European market has very different characteristics to North America.

'In the UK, the vast majority of eye examinations are carried out in a retail setting by ophthalmic opticians who tend to focus heavily on retail sales and refraction rather than on preventive care. Accordingly we estimate that there is a smaller addressable UK market of approximately 400 practices.'

The company aims to acquire and retain top-tier opticians and improve its penetration rate during the year, with the installed base in the UK growing by 15 per cent to 77. 'Developing a closer working relationship with NHS bodies continues to form part of our approach to the UK market and during the year development work was undertaken within the primary care trust network. Our aim is to assist in establishing primary eye care centres for triaging and patient management.'

Two new products have been developed the Optomap Plus Medical Retinal Exam for the monitoring of a known retinal condition and the Optomap fa Medical Procedure, generated by the P200MA device for advanced diagnostic, monitoring and treatment of eye disorders.

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