The transformation of orthopaedic devices supplier Corin is well advanced as the company's new portfolio of products gains traction in the market.

The company saw group sales rise by 10%, or 6% on a constant exchange rate (CER) basis, in 2010 to £44.8m from £40.6m the year before.

Underlying profit before tax rose 9% to £1.6m from £1.5m in 2009. The company took a £1.1m charge for exceptional items (2009: £0.6m), of which only £0.3m had a cash impact.

Underlying earnings per share jumped 124% to 1.3p from 0.58p the year before, but the full year dividend stays at 1.38p and still isn't quite covered by underlying earnings yet.

Nevertheless, the market liked the figures, though the share price reaction may have been partly due to a new five year distribution agreement the group has signed with US outfit MAKO Surgical.

Corin will supply MAKO with a hip implant system for use with MAKO's RIO Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopaedic System, in a deal that Corin chief executive Peter Huntley told Shasrecast "endorses the progress we have made over the last couple of years."

The MAKO deal will give Corin a higher profile in the US, where it is not especially well known; sales in the US last year totalled £2.1m, or 4.7% of the group total.

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Corin Group (CRG) share price