Tuesday, Swiss eye care products company Alcon Inc. (ACL), reported a lower profit for the third quarter ended September 30, reflecting the absence of tax benefit recorded in the same period last year. Looking ahead, Alcon raised its full year 2009 earnings forecast, and maintained its sales guidance for organic sales growth.
Alcon's third-quarter net income was $515 million or $1.71 per share, down from $627 million or $2.07 per share in the same period last year.
On an adjusted basis, net income was $516 million, up 33.3% from $387 million in the prior year quarter.
On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.45 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Adjusted net income excluded the impact of a $240 million tax benefit related to the refractive product line in 2008 and the impact of continuing expenses related to the first quarter 2009 reduction in force.
Subsidiary of Nestle S.A., Alcon's operating income was $578 million, compared to $494 million in the prior-year quarter.
The Hunenberg, Switzerland-based company's quarterly sales increased to $1.61 billion from $1.52 billion for the same quarter last year. Analysts expected the company to report revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter.
In the sequentially preceding second quarter, net earnings had increased by 2.6% to $582 million or $1.94 per share from $567 million or $1.88 per share in the year-earlier quarter. Sales for the quarter decreased to $1.68 billion from $1.74 billion in the comparable quarter a year ago.
For the quarter under review, on a geographic basis, Alcon's total united states sales rose 7.6% to $733 million from $681 million last year. Total international sales improved 4.5% to $881 million from the same quarter last year.
On product sales basis, Glaucoma product sales rose by 18.2% to $286 million led by a 23.6% rise in global sales of the TRAVATAN family of products and a 16.9% rise in Azoptand Azarga ophthalmic solutions sales also added to glaucoma sales growth. Otic/nasal product sales improved 23.3% to $106 million. However, infection/inflammation segment revenues declined by 4.3% to $199 million.
Total surgical sales increased 6.8% to $739 million, helped by 8.6% rise in intraocular lenses sales to $278 million and a 6.9% increase in cataract/vitreoretinal sales to $436 million, helped by the launch of Constellation vitreoretinal system.
For the nine-month period, net earnings increased to $1.55 billion or $5.15 per share from $1.62 billion or $5.38 per share in the prior-year period. Sales declined moderately to $4.78 billion from $4.80 billion in the year-earlier period.
Looking forward, the company raised its full year earnings guidance to a range of $6.55 - $6.65 per share from the previous guidance range of $6.20 - $6.35 per share. On a non-GAAP basis, the company expects net income in the range of $6.60 - $6.70 per share, compared to the prior guidance range of $6.25 - $6.40 per share. However, the company maintained its previously-issued sales guidance of organic sales growth to be in the mid-single digits.
Street analysts expect earnings of $6.42 per share on revenues of $6.27 billion.
ACL closed Tuesday's regular trading at $143.62, up $0.79 or 0.55%, on a volume of 0.79 million shares. In after-hours, the stock gained $5.38 or 3.75%, trading at $149.00. In the last 52-week period, the stock trended in the range of $66.64 to $148.85, with a three-month average volume of 0.42 million shares.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.