Bausch & Lomb has reported higher quarterly earnings on strong sales of contact lenses and pharmaceuticals.
The eye care products maker, which employs 1,720 people in Waterford, reported first-quarter profit of $15.6 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $8.8 million, or 16 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.
Excluding the effect of an accounting change, the company earned 31 cents per share in the most recent period.
Bausch & Lomb said sales rose to $448 million from $414.2 million a year ago. It said it is not changing its 2003 financial targets.
Bausch & Lomb said the weakening dollar boosted its first-quarter profit by 2 cents per share by lifting sales overseas and would add 2 cents to 4 cents per share for the remaining three quarters of the year.
However, those positive effects could be offset by the effect of the SARS virus, the company said.
Over the past four years, Bausch & Lomb has cut its staff five times, cutting about 3,250 jobs, to bring costs in line with revenue.
Sales of its core contact lenses and lens-cleaning solutions slumped in the face of competition from firms such as Alcon and Johnson & Johnson, as well as cheaper generic products, but the company has been able to recover in recent quarters.
Bausch & Lomb missed revenue and earnings forecasts in several quarters in 2000 and 2001, leading to the ouster of CEO William Carpenter in July 2001, analysts said.