Deltex Medical Group plc (LON:DEMG) told investors it has made important progress in the first half of the year towards its primary objective, which is to surpass cash break even.
In an update ahead of the release of interim results, for the six months ended June 30, the company highlighted that its expansion in the United States remain on track and that revenues from probe sales had increased by 40% to £900,000.
It noted good progress with the US hospital pipeline with 24 accounts now held, up from 17 at the start of 2016. Product evaluations have been completed for eight hospitals, and a further 24 are currently underway it added.
Nigel Keen, Deltex chairman, said: "2016 is a transitional year for Deltex. Our primary objective is to get the business past the operating cash break-even point and we have made important progress in the first half of the year.
"Probe revenues from the USA, our main focus market, have overtaken UK probe revenues and we have made substantial progress towards achieving our US platform targets.
“Overall, exports have increased substantially since we started our US expansion programme and now comprise about two-thirds of group revenues.”
Elsewhere, internationally, probe revenues had increased by 11% to £700,000 and the company noted continued growth in focus markets such as France, Scandinavia and Peru as well as ‘promising progress in South Korea.
The company also highlighted excellent results from a product trial sponsored by the Spanish government.
In the UK, however, the group said the NHS market remained weak. At £800,000 revenues from probe sales were down 36% while total UK revenue was down 30%.
It was also noted that new easier to use probes were launched in the UK with a marketing programme, and the company is planning to release additional products in the second half on this year.
Summing up, the company said it expects group sales to be flat, at £2.7mln. It intends to release interim results on September 8.
Keen added: “We expect the momentum established in the USA and other export markets to continue, with good potential for improvement in the disappointing UK performance to convert this into a strong recovery.
“In addition, we expect to see positive impacts coming through from cost reductions previously announced, margin improvement and the introduction of new products."