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Alcon experiences strong third quarter sales

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HUNENBERG, Switzerland — Alcon Inc. reported global sales of $958.1 million for the third quarter of 2004, an increase of 16.5% over the third quarter of 2003. Net earnings for the quarter increased 26.9% to $194.3 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, according to a company news release.

Product sales in the United States increased 15% over the third quarter of 2003 to total $499.9 million, accounting for 52.2% of total sales for the company, the company noted. International sales increased 18.1%, totaling $458.2 million, according to the release.

Pharmaceutical sales increased 20.1% and accounted for 39.3% of all product sales. In particular, glaucoma product sales increased 26.3% and were led by a 52.2% increase in sales of Travatan (travoprost). Allergy product sales increased 31.1%, and infection and inflammation product sales increased 13.4% for the quarter.

Surgical product sales increased 15.2%, totaling $438.5 million, and accounted for 45.8% of all product sales, despite a 1.2% decrease in refractive revenue.

Cataract and vitrectomy product sales increased 15.1% and were driven by shipments of the Infiniti phacoemulsification system. Sales of IOLs increased 17.7% to $139.6 million, which the company attributed to increased market share due to surgeons converting from multi-piece to single-piece lenses and increased adoption of the AcrySof Natural IOL, according to the release. Sales of AcrySof Natural accounted for 38% of Alcon’s U.S. IOL sales in September, the company noted.

Consumer eye care product sales increased 11.4%, with a 25.4% increase in sales of Systane lubricant eye drops. Consumer eye care products accounted for 14.9% of total sales, the company said.

“We are early into a new product cycle for many of these important products and expect to see healthy growth from them for many years to come,” Cary Rayment, Alcon’s president and chief executive officer, said in the release.

“As this quarter also demonstrated … we expect to consistently translate this growth to faster profit growth,” he said.

For the quarter, gross profit margin increased almost 2 percentage points to 74.1% of sales. Research and development expenses increased 16.5%, or 10.6% of sales. For the full year, Alcon expects sales to be between $3.85 billion and $3.9 billion, yielding diluted earnings per share between $2.52 and $2.55, according to the release.