Check out the "$150-million war chest" and procedure forecasted numbers in this article.
Sunday August 8, 7:02 pm Eastern Time
INTERVIEW-TLC eyes U.S. growth, launch in Europe
(All figures in U.S. dollars except stock prices)
By Ian Karleff
TORONTO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Leading laser eye-surgery company TLC The Laser Center Inc. has seen its (Nasdaq:TLCV - news)
(Toronto:TLC.TO - news) stock gyrate recently with new rumors and faces growing cut-rate eye surgery competitors, but its chief
executive says he is focused on further U.S. expansion and launching its clinics in Europe.
``There's no question we will have clinics throughout the world, it's a matter of when,' CEO Elias Vamvakas told Reuters in an interview at TLC's Toronto headquarters.
``Europe is kind of the thing that we are most interested in at this point because it's the closest to what we are doing in North America,' said Vamvakas.
TLC says it's is the biggest laser vision correction company, having performed 90,000 eye surgery operations in its last fiscal year which ended May 31.
Based on the numbers of procedures performed, health industry analysts agree it is the largest company of its type in the world.
Vamvakas said TLC is on track to perform 150,000 surgeries in fiscal 2000, up from 36,000 in fiscal 1998.
Vision laser treatment has existed in the United States for only the past two years but it started 12 years ago in Canada because government approval wasn't required to
perform the surgery.
Vamvakas said he is not concerned about cut-rate competitors offering surgeries at $499 an eye, compared with TLC's $2,400 an eye, potentially driving down the industry
leader's price.
``My concern is not from a business concern, but what's going to happen industry-wide when a whole bunch of unhappy patients report poor results,' he said.
TLC, which is sitting on a $150-million war chest from an stock offering completed earlier this year, recently launched a $20 million television and radio ad campaign in the
United States and Canada.
It also hired Rochelle Stenzler as president of international operations, a job that entails examining a daily barrage of international proposals and trying to uncover one that's
worth pursuing.
Stenzler, a former president of Revlon Canada, had her vision corrected at TLC a month ago, and liked the results so much she joined the company.
But finding competent management is difficult in an industry growing as fast as laser eye surgery, he said.
TLC has grown from 30 employees five years ago to more than 1,000 today, and has no fewer than 20 clinics under development at any one time.
Commenting on overseas expansion prospects, Vamvakas said: ``It has to be substantial and big enough to have the resources to be able to run itself, because we're not going
to run it out of here.'
Claude Camire, a healthcare analyst at Canaccord Capital Corp., said vision-care companies are now plentiful in North America with Canadian firms Gimbel Vision
(Toronto:GBV.TO - news) and Lasik Vision Corp. (Vancouver:LSK.V - news), St. Louis,Mo.-based Laser Vision Centers Inc. (Nasdaq:LVCI - news) and a host of others
chasing the consumer trend toward laser vision correction.
Companies that have tried international expansion have all lost money, but when the U.S. market becomes saturated in three or four years, opportunities will exist in the highly
fragmented European and Japanese markets, Camire said.
``It's very wise here to try and pursue the next step after the U.S. market becomes saturated...I think he (Vamvakas) is putting the right investments in the right place,' added
Camire.
Meantime, TLC recently has fended off a barrage of rumors, which traders have contributed to the volatility of the stock.
At the request of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), TLC issued a press release on Thursday denying rumors that its senior management had resigned or was about to.
Over the past week, there were also rumors that TLC would issue a profit warning, that insiders were selling shares, that the firm's doctors were leaving to go to competitors
and that the company was looking to acquire a laser manufacturer -- all of which had no merit, said Stephen Kilmer, TLC investor relations officer.
The company's stock has fallen 40 percent from a year high of C$79, and on Thursday it plunged C$8.50, only to end the day up 70 Canadian cents at C$47.70.
On Friday the shares rose C$1.60 to close at C$49.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE).
($1=$1.50 Canadian) |
