RETINAL imaging device maker Optos has reported a 24% rise in sales to $127.1 million (£78m) in the first nine months of the financial year.
That increase came in spite of a slow down in the third quarter where revenue dipped 7% to $40.9m.
However, the Dunfermline company said it had not included $17m of expected income from advance orders of the Daytona device in the figures for the three months to June 30.
The new retinal scanner, which is smaller than existing technology, is not scheduled for a full sales launch until October but 40 units have been shipped with firm orders placed for a further 360.
Roy Davis, chief executive, said: "Our customer base con-tinues to grow, underpinned by demand for all our core products. We remain on track to deliver against our Daytona order book and look forward to the full sales launch for the product."
In March this year Optos agreed a deal to supply 160 of the Daytona devices to Luxottica's OPSM optometry stores across Australia and New Zealand .
Manufacturing is being ramped up to meet the demand and Optos said the higher margins it can achieve from the Daytona will start to become apparent in the 2013 financial year. In a note, analysts from Shore Capital said: "We are looking for positive signs that the introduction of Daytona in the key US market is making progress.
"In this regard we are heartened to note the positive commentary around the uptake of Daytona."
Net customer numbers increased by 114 in the third quarter bringing the global total to 4518. The percentage of customers uninstalling Optos technology was down year-on-year from 1.7% to 1.1%.
There were 51 of the older 200Tx devices placed in the third quarter bringing the year-to-date number to 151.
Optos said there had been particularly strong demand from Japan where 85 are now installed.
Shore Capital added: "The management's goal of increasing the core customer base is progressing well with 114 new customers [net] added in the quarter and 278 added year to date. Given that the business model requires Optos selling new products through the existing customer base, it is important to note that in this regard, the level of de-installations remains low."
Optos devices are able to produce high resolution digital images of around 82% of the retina and can be used to detect a range of health conditions.
The company's shares ended the day down 3.75p at 180.25p.
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