Alcon sees sales and profits increase

Pharmaceuticals and eyecare manufacturer Alcon has reported a large increase in its sales and profits.

First quarter profits rose by 18.5 per cent to $1.2 billion largely due to an increase in sales of lenses and pharmaceuticals.

Profit levels rose from $249.5 million a year ago to $295.7 million this year for the Nestle-controlled company. Alcon’s CEO and president, Cary Rayment, said at a conference to announce the results that the rise “reflected the continued success of our brand building across many product lines and gross margin improvement due to favourable mix shift.”

Growth follows on from year-end results for 2005 posted in February that saw a sales increase at Alcon rise from $4.75 billion to $4.8 billion.

Profit growth to 95 cents per share beat estimates by experts such as those at Reuters Estimates who expected only 88 cents per share.

For those interested, the conference at which Alcon announced its first quarter sales and profits levels is available as a webcast on the company’s website until next week.

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