Medical devices company Visioneering Technologies spent its 2018 financial year watching the dollars roll in: it more than tripled its annual revenue.

Gross profit fell by 3 per cent, however.

Visioneering (ASX:VTI) makes multifocal one-day contact lenses for people suffering from presbyopia (long-sighted), myopia (short-sighted), and astigmatism.

The company said this morning that unaudited revenue increased 214 per cent on fiscal 2017 to $4.6 million.

If you’re wondering why it is talking about full-year figures in January, Visioneering uses calendar years for its financial year, rather than the July 1 – June 30 time period most companies use. It will likely release its audited results in late February.

Visioneering says full-year revenue for 2019 will be up to $10.5 million. Its shares were flat on the news at 17c, well short of its 52-week high of 57.5c.

Visioneering Technologies (ASX:VTI) shares over the past year.

Chief Stephen Snowdy said 2018 had been a big year.

“Our growth in revenue and shipments has been very strong. We have shown there is strong demand for our products, that we have a viable business model, and that we are on the path to profitability,” he said.

“Early in the year, based on the strength of data for NaturalVue Multifocal in blunting the progression of nearsightedness in children, we gained clearance to market our contact lenses in Europe, and parlayed that achievement into clearances in Australia and New Zealand.

“We plan to continue this expansion, and see Asia as a key market. Up to 90 per cent of children in some Asian nations are nearsighted, and we are not aware of another product that matches NaturalVue Multifocal’s level of impact on slowing the progression of myopia.

“We will make significant efforts in 2019 towards launching in Asia, initially focusing on Hong Kong and then on other Asian nations as we satisfy their regulatory requirements.”