SANTA ANA, Calif.--Advanced Medical Optics (NYSE: EYE) reported net profit of $87.15 million for its third quarter ended Sept. 29, vs. a $31.2 million net loss in the same period last year.

Net sales in this year’s Q3 were $258.6 million, up 4.2 percent. Advanced Medical Optics’ eyecare sales rose 6.4 percent in the period, to $82.6 million, spurred by a 17 percent improvement in sales of multipurpose solutions.

In the first nine months of 2006, the company had net income of $87.1 million, compared to a net loss of $455.5 million in 2005’s first three quarters. Those 2005 included $55.4 million in after-tax charges related primarily to the company’s May 2005 acquisition of VISX.

Net sales in this year’s first nine months rose 12.9 percent, to $753.9 million.

Jim Mazzo, Advanced Medical Optics’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “Market conditions in certain high-margin segments and challenging pricing environments for some of our cataract products have caused us to adopt a more conservative outlook for the balance of 2006 and 2007.”

While the company’s forecast of full-year 2006 sales in the $1,010 million to $1,020 million range remains the same, it is now projecting sales in 2007 of from $1,080 million to $1,100 million, down from an earlier forecast of $1,100 million.