LCA-Vision Q3 revenues shy of Street, lowers guidance
Shares of LCA-Vision Inc. (Nasdaq: LCAV) are sinking this morning after the provider of laser vision correction services under the LasikPlus brand reported revenues shy of expectations and lowered its outlook for the fourth quarter.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company booked revenues of $74.6 million, below the $78.89 million seven analysts polled by Thomson Financial were on average forecasting. For the third quarter of 2006, the small cap earned $55.8 million in revenues.
Net income was $10 million, or $0.51 per share, right inline with the mean estimate of eight analysts polled by Thomson Financial. For the third quarter last year, the company netted $5.3 million, or $0.25 per share.
Going forward, the company said it faces an uncertain business environment in the near-term. LCA-Vision noted the percentage of pre-operative eye exams it was able to convert into treated patients has declined and is impacting the company’s ability to accurately forecast conversion rates. This, coupled with weakening consumer sentiment, gave the company concern for the short-term.
LCA-Vision said it now expects that fourth-quarter earnings per share will be significantly below the $0.27 reported in the fourth quarter of 2006, and that it is suspending revenue guidance. Eight analysts polled by Thomson Financial are on average expecting earnings of $0.52 per share.
Shares of LCA-Vision (LCAV) toppled 28.35%, or $7.97, to $20.14 at 9:50 a.m. ET. Shares of LCA-Vision have been trading in the range of $ 26.60 to $50.69 for the past 52 weeks.
