Largely because of recall-related expenses, the company's US operations will be unprofitable in 2006, the filing said.
The eye-care company permanently pulled its ReNu with MoistureLoc solution from markets worldwide in mid-May as health officials investigated its links to an outbreak of Fusarium keratitis infections dating back to June 2005. Worldwide, the number of cases of the potentially blinding infection approached 300, spokeswoman Meg Graham said. The company faces numerous lawsuits related to the outbreak.
Much of the cost of the lawsuits, along with other legal, administrative, and marketing expenses, will be absorbed by the company's US operations, where a significant portion of lens care sales are generated, the company said. Lens care is the most profitable of Bausch & Lomb's five product categories.
For 2007, the company expects pretax earnings in the range of $220 million to $270 million on anticipated sales of $2.5 billion to $2.63 billion. The forecast takes into account higher operating expenses associated with the recall and independent investigations as well as the cost of stabilizing its Asian businesses and lens care category in general, moves the company said should allow it to recoup market share.
The company also said it would restate earnings for 2001 to 2005 following investigations into accounting practices at its Asian operations. The company in May said it was cutting its previously reported net sales by a combined $26.7 million after an internal investigation dating to 2001.
