Clarity is seldom a big feature of figures released by eyecare devices specialist, Optos (OPTS). That's because its mix of operating agreements and devices sales makes for big swings in revenues as leases for its Daytona retinal mapping machine expire and are then renewed. These full-year results did little to dispel that - a difficult economic backdrop combined with fewer opportunities for lease renewals and underlying operating profit slumped 65 per cent to $9.2m (£5.7m).
Indeed, the timing of contract renewals and the conversion of rental agreements into operating leases, left the operational performance looking oddly counter-intuitive. For example, the number of customers increased by an impressive 25 per cent during the year to 5,945, but the number of lease renewals for its retinal devices was barely a quarter of what was achieved in 2012. The net result was far fewer actual contracts for Optos during the year - 1,714 compared with 2,634 last time - which explains the revenue slide.