Revenue during the quarter grew 9.60 percent to $98.88 million from $90.22 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 274 basis points over the previous year period to 43.34 percent. Total expenses were 88.54 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 95.33 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 679 basis points in operating margin to 11.46 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $11.33 million, compared with $4.21 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $16.57 million compared to $11.74 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin improved 374 basis points in the quarter to 16.76 percent from 13.01 percent in the last year period.

"We are very proud of our accomplishments in 2016, and how we finished off the year," said Matthijs Glastra, chief executive officer of Novanta Inc. "We successfully rebranded the Company, we seamlessly transitioned our Company's leadership, and our focus on accelerating profitable growth was evident in our financial results. We delivered 5% growth on our full year Adjusted Revenue, and our Adjusted Revenue growth in the fourth quarter accelerated to 10%. Profitability in the fourth quarter exceeded our expectations with 35% Adjusted EBITDA growth and 21% Non-GAAP EPS growth versus the fourth quarter of 2015. In addition, since closing out 2016, we have added two strategic acquisitions, Laser Quantum and ThingMagic, which further our strategy to increase our medical end-market presence with proprietary technology offerings. We are excited about our 2017 outlook and believe we are well positioned to deliver a strong 2017."

For financial year 2017, Novanta Inc. expects revenue to be in the range of $430 million to $435 million. It projects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.20 to $1.25 on adjusted basis for the same period.

For the first-quarter, Novanta Inc. expects revenue to be in the range of $100 million to $102 million. It projects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.22 to $0.25 on an adjusted basis for the same period.

The company has spent $12.86 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $1.63 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $1.42 million on net basis during the year, down 73.73 percent or $4 million from year ago.

The company has spent $23.19 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $21.54 million in the last year period.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $68.11 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 13.59 percent or $8.15 million from $59.96 million on Dec. 31, 2015.

Working capital remains almost stable
Working capital of Novanta Inc. remained almost stable for the quarter at $128.75 million, when compared with the previous year period. Current ratio was at 2.83 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 3.25 on Dec. 31, 2015.

Debt comes down
Novanta Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $77.92 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 18.67 percent or $17.89 million from $95.81 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 18.31 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 23.03 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.30 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 0.39 as on Dec. 31, 2015.