Annidis’ Q3 sales slip as Ottawa med-tech firm continues push into China

Eye
Eye

Struggling eye-care technology firm Annidis said late Thursday its third-quarter revenues dipped slightly compared with the same period in 2016, while the company’s deficit continued to grow.

Ottawa-based Annidis (TSX-V: RHA) reported revenues of slightly more than $513,000 for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, down from nearly $541,000 in the third quarter of 2016. The company, which makes an imaging platform that allows doctors to view the deepest areas of the eye, said it sold seven units during the quarter – five in China and two in the United States – compared with 10 units in 2016.

The firm managed to trim its net loss to about $607,000, compared with just over $1 million in the same period a year earlier, thanks in part to lower salary costs. However, Annidis still posted an overall loss of more than $2.1 million for the first nine months of 2017, bringing its total deficit to more than $42.2 million.

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Still, the company pointed to some positive developments, noting it has sold a total of 32 units in the first three quarters compared with 15 during the same period in 2016. It also said its gross margin was higher in the third quarter of 2017 because even though it sold fewer units than a year earlier, two of them were purchased in the United States at a higher price than the units it sold to its Chinese distributor. By contrast, all 10 units in the third quarter of 2016 were sold in China.

It’s been a tumultuous year for Annidis, which announced in late February that then-president and chief executive Cameron Bramwell had resigned “to pursue other opportunities” after less than a year on the job. He was replaced by Gerald Slemko, who also assumed the role of executive chairman.

In the spring, the company’s auditors expressed concern about the firm’s ability to continue operating amid its mounting debt.

In a news release, Annidis said it will continue to focus on making inroads into the Chinese market while “repairing and rebuilding” relationships with “key opinion leaders” and “large U.S. buying groups.”

Shares in Annidis has sat unchanged for a week at one cent on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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