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.