B&L posts large gains in second quarter

Earnings per share for Bausch & Lomb increased 33% during the second quarter of 2003, in contrast with the comparable period in 2002, while worldwide sales increased 12% during the quarter, an earnings release from the company stated. Worldwide sales grew to $512.5 million during the quarter. On a constant currency basis, the company noted, its worldwide sales would have increased by 4% during the quarter.

Calling the company’s performance “solid,” chief executive officer Ron Zarrella noted results were ahead of expectations, with “sales gains generated in nearly every product category, and despite the negative impact of the SARS outbreak.”

Revenue in the company’s contact lens line increased 12% during the quarter, according to the release. B&L’s core product line experienced “strong double-digit constant-currency sales increases in both Europe and Asia,” the release noted. Mid single-digit sales were reported in the Americas; B&L has been precluded from selling its PureVision line of contact lenses in the United States as a result of a patent infringement lawsuit, the release noted.

B&L’s pharmaceuticals product line increased revenue by 24% during the quarter, “primarily attributable to the company’s line of ocular vitamins and multisource pharmaceuticals in the Americas region, including incremental revenue from the generic version of Alphagan, which was launched late in the quarter,” according to the release.

Cataract and vitreoretinal products increased sales by 10%, with gains in the Europe region offsetting losses in the Americas and Asia.

The company’s refractive surgical line decreased revenues by 9%, “reflecting lower sales of lasers and microkeratome products, partly offset by higher sales of per procedure cards,” the company said in its release.