October 23, 2006
:TOP
STORY
Lawsuit Allows Offices to
Remain Under VSP
Recent settlement of a year-old lawsuit between Mark Lynn and
Associates--owner of 10 optometric offices in Kentucky--and
Vision Service Plan will allow those 10 locations to remain
on the VSP provider panel, according to Vision Monday.
Operated under the names Dr. Bizer's Vision World, Doctor's
ValuVision and Dr. Bizer's ValuVision, those 10 offices have been
managed by 385-unit Eye Care Centers of America since October 1998
under a contract with Mark Lynn and Associates. VSP has
consistently refused to allow chain locations to participate on its
provider panel, choosing instead to ally itself with independent
optometrists and ophthalmologists. Mark Lynn and Associates filed
suit against VSP in U.S. District Court for the Western District of
Kentucky in September 2005, alleging that VSP was seeking to
terminate its contract as a panel provider. The suit also noted
that those Kentucky offices see from 80 to 100 VSP patients daily,
via large employers in the area such as General Electric and United
Parcel Service. In October 2005, the court issued a temporary
injunction preventing VSP from dropping the practice from its
panel. A permanent injunction was issued last month in conjunction
with a settlement between the two parties, and the case was
dismissed. In its recently filed 10Q form for the second quarter,
ECCA--now owned by Highmark, also parent of managed-vision player
Davis Vision--said VSP accounts for about $5 million of its annual
revenues, which last year totaled $406.3 million.
:CONFERENCE
CALLS
TLC Vision (NASDAQ: TLCV) will release its third quarter
2006 financial results before the market opens on Nov. 8, followed
by a 10:30 a.m. ET conference call. Access is at 877-888-4605 and
www.tlcv.com.
NovaMed (NASDAQ: NOVA) will provide an online Webcast of its
third quarter 2006 earnings conference call on Nov. 1, 11 a.m. ET.
Access is at www.novamed.com
or at www.earnings.com.
STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ: STAA) will release financial results
for the third quarter after the market closes on Oct. 31, followed
by a 5 p.m. ET conference call 800-240-2430. Access is at www.staar.com.
1-800 CONTACTS (NASDAQ: CTAC) will release results for its
third quarter of fiscal year 2006 after the market closes on Nov.
7, followed by a Nov. 8, 10 a.m. ET conference call. Access is at
877-209-0397 and www.1800contacts.com.
:FINANCIAL
NOTES
The 385-unit Eye Care Centers of America chain saw its total
net revenues rise to $105.05 million in its second quarter ended
July 1. Comparable-store sales increased by 4.6 percent in the
period, according to the company's 10Q report, filed recently with
the SEC and reported by Vision Monday. Net income reached $3.3
million in Q2, up from $1.8 million in last year's second quarter.
The chain reported net income of $13.2 million in this year's first
half, compared to a net loss of $2 million for the same period in
2005.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) sales for the third
quarter were $13.3 billion, an increase of 7.9 percent as compared
to the third quarter of 2005. Net earnings and diluted earnings per
share for the third quarter were $2.8 billion and $.94,
respectively. The third quarter included after-tax in-process
research and development charges of $115 million associated with
the acquisitions of Ensure Medical, Inc. and Colbar LifeScience
Ltd. Excluding the impact of these charges, net earnings for the
current quarter were $2.9 billion and diluted earnings per share
were $.98, representing increases of 13.3 percent and 15.3 percent,
respectively, as compared to the same period in 2005.
Oakley (NYSE: OO) financial results for its third quarter
ended Sept. 30 included a net sales increase of 21.2 percent, to a
quarterly record $210.2 million, compared with $173.4 million in
the same period of 2005. Net income for the third quarter totaled
$17.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to $16.1
million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the third quarter of
2005.
:COMPANY
NEWS
Vision-Ease Lens, based in Ramsey, Minn., is planning an
initial public offering of its common stock. In a registration
statement and preliminary prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission on Friday, Oct. 13, Vision-Ease said it
will offer its stock on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol
"VELS." The date of the offering, number of shares and share price
has not been announced yet. The underwriters for the proposed
offering will be J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., acting as the sole
book-running manager with William Blair & Company, BMO Capital
Markets and Robert W. Baird & Co. acting as co-managers in the
offering. Vision-Ease is privately owned by Insight Equity A.P.X, a
Texas limited partnership, which purchased Vision-Ease in August,
2004 from BMC Industries, which had earlier declared
bankruptcy.
LCA-Vision (NASDAQ: LCAV) opened its 58th LasikPlus vision
center in Lexington, Ken. This is the second LasikPlus vision
center located in the state of Kentucky. Year-to-date, the company
has opened nine LasikPlus vision centers, and plans remain on track
to open one to three additional vision centers by the end of
2006.
October 2006
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