• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

UPDATE 1-TLC Vision reports Q2 loss as Lasik demand slips

Tue Aug 5, 2008 7:30am EDT

Stocks

   

(Adds details)

Stocks

TORONTO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - TLC Vision Corp (TLC.TO) said on Tuesday that it swung to a second-quarter loss, hurt by a decline in vision-correction procedures.

The laser eye-treatment company known for the Lasik surgery, reported a loss of $2.2 million, or 4 cents a share, in the period ended June 30, compared to a profit of $876,000, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier.

Revenue was $74.1 million, down 7.5 percent from $80.1 million in 2007.

Analysts expected an average profit of 2 cents a share on revenue of $79.5 million.

The company said earnings were hurt by a 22.8 percent slump in demand for the corrective eye procedure during the quarter, compared with its rival firms, which together experienced a drop in demand of between 25 percent and 30 percent.

"Our results this quarter in our Lasik businesses were significantly impacted by the weak economy, as evidenced by a consumer confidence index that has declined to a level not seen since the early 1990s," Jim Wachtman, president and chief executive, said in a statement. ($1=$1.04 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Stocks


More from Reuters

A Greenpeace activist dressed as one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" rides outside the parliament building during a brief protest in Copenhagen December 13, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

The face of climate protest

Protesters around the globe called for an end to global warming as climate talks in Copenhagen entered their sixth day.  Video 

    Climate conference
    Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani attends a tender in Baghdad June 30, 2009.REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani

    Ready for business

    With enough oil deals on the table to quadruple its output capacity, Iraq is in a strong position when it enters quota talks with OPEC. But a number of challenges may unhinge its ambitious plans.  Full Article 

    Commodities
    In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee (L) jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, January 21, 2009. REUTERS/Brennan Linsley/Pool

    Life after Guantanamo

    Critics are worried that Gitmo prisoners once dubbed "enemy combatants" will be using prisons as pulpits for anti-American rhetoric once they're moved to U.S. soil.  Full Article 

    U.S.