Analyst predicts dim financial future for Bausch & Lomb after ReNu recall

Wednesday, 27 September 2006

Bausch & Lomb is facing the recent recall of its popular ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution, competition from other companies and a host of lawsuits stemming from the ReNu recall. Prudential analyst Larry Biegelsen predicts a bleak financial future for the company, which is based in Rochester, New York. Since Bausch & Lomb has few new products in its pipeline and has lost significant revenue after the ReNu recall, Biegelsen believes that it may lose much of its share in the contact lens solution market to rival Johnson & Johnson, which has sought to capitalize on Bausch’s troubles. Biegelsen expects that Bausch & Lomb’s growth over the next four years will fall to roughly half of what it has been since 2002. Because of its financial woes and an ongoing investigation into its Asian accounting practices, Bausch has not filed audited financial data since the second quarter of 2005. This, says Biegelsen, further darkens the company’s future financial outlook. In addition, Bausch & Lomb is facing numerous ReNu lawsuits from former ReNu users who contracted the potentially blinding fungal infection Fusarium keratitis after using the product. Some legal experts have predicted that Bausch may face more than $1 billion in litigation from ReNu lawsuits.