Strong growth outside of the UK and especially the US has made Deltex Medical PLC (LON:DEMG) more bullish than for some time.
US sales exceeded the UK for the first time and those from outside the UK comprised 66% of blood monitoring probe revenues
“Sales are growing well in the USA and other export markets which resulted in 2016 probe revenues up 40% and 24% respectively. Furthermore, we have seen positive signs of the UK business stabilising," said Nigel Keen, chairman.
Deltex has been hamstrung by the NHS’s cash crisis and UK sales of its surgical blood monitoring probes dropped 26% to £1.9mln, though the decline slowed in the second half.
US sales, though, rose by 50% as the number of major hospitals signed up reached 28. Since January, manufacturing improvements are also saving over £30,000 a month.
Overall sales in 2016 were £6.3mln (£6.4mln) with losses reduced to £2.52mln (£3.6mln).
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Separately, Deltex announced it has been awarded a grant of €50,000 under the EU's Horizon 2020 programme that finances new product development.
“Deltex and Lariboisiere Hospital Paris have developed a system called TruVue which provides simultaneous visual display of a patient's aortic blood flow velocity and aortic blood pressure," it said.
The EU funding will help test the system and may be followed with a further grant of up to €2.5mln in a second phase.