CRANEWARE has highlighted huge growth potential for its revenue management software in its core US healthcare market as it hiked profits by more than one-fifth to $16.9 million (£13m).

Shares in the Edinburgh-based company closed up 3.5 per cent, at 1,325p, after it reported an 18th straight year of revenue and underlying earnings growth, boosted by sales across a broad range of healthcare outlets across the US.

The progress came during a “huge” year for the business with the launch and first sales for its cloud-based Trisus platform, as well as introduction of Craneware Healthcare Intelligence, a cost analytics system.

Chief executive Keith Neilson said Trisus gives Craneware access to “10 to 100 times our addressable market” than it could previously tap into.

“It’s that type of magnitude,” he said. “We are just at the very beginning of that, so we are cautious from that perspective. But things are looking good. [With] our cost analytics product, the average licence is probably 10 times what our average Charge Master toolkit was when we [floated] in 2007. That’s just one product out of a number of products that will go on to the Trisus platform.”

Mr Nielson said the company invested a total of $14m in research and development (R&D) during the period. That included $9.5m of reinvested profits and $3.5m which Mr Nielson said has been “capitalised” and will flow through its profit and loss account in the next two years ago as new products are rolled out.

He said: “The good news for Scotland is the vast majority of the R&D spend has been in Scotland, and we continue to be committed to growing the times there. We have had an 11 per cent growth in the teams in Scotland over the course of this last year and we want to see that continuing.”

Employee numbers north of the Border grew to 135, out of a total workforce of 208, with the favourable exchange rate for dollars versus the pound allowing the firm to add to its headcount.

Asked to sum up trading in the US, where President Donald Trump has been attempting to repeal Obamacare, Mr Neilson said: “We are sitting with the best pipeline we have had. There was a bit of uncertainty before the election result, but that all kind of resolved itself pretty quickly. It’s been a pretty positive environment, which has been a bit contrary to the headlines.”