STAAR reports 16% revenue growth in third quarter

MONROVIA, Calif. — The Visian implantable Collamer lens played a significant role in STAAR Surgical's revenue for the third quarter, which grew by $2.1 million, or 16%, over the third quarter of 2010 to $15.3 million, according to a news release.

The company reported gross margins of 68.5% in the quarter, as opposed to 62.8% in 2010, largely because of the Visian ICL and improved margins on IOLs, the release said.

"We again have generated very strong growth from our high-margin Visian ICL products as a result of our focus on the top global refractive markets," Barry G. Caldwell, president and CEO of STAAR, said in the release. "In our top 10 targeted markets, the Visian ICL grew by 33%, with five of those 10 markets accounting for 85% of the total ICL revenue growth."

However, STAAR did not meet financial expectations for the quarter, according to the release.

"Due largely to non-operating related accounting items, our net income was below our expectations for the quarter," Mr. Caldwell said in the release. "The high income tax rate you see in our results is one of the key reasons behind our plan to consolidate all STAAR manufacturing operations to Monrovia."

Net income was $77,000, or $0.00 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.03 per share, in the same period last year.