Thanks
I love sharing ideas. I have watched several of your stocks. And I agree with you on some of these. We owned Costco for a couple of years and really belive that the big boys trade that stock. It made no sense at all. It paid no dividend and was bound in this bad trading range. Why would you tie up say 10k of you money too make no money?
Still own PETM Penni wouldn't sell it.
Take a look at this one LSCP
I missed getting it. If I had an oustanding low ball I could have snagged it. Maybe if the mrkt sells off. I think you are setting up for a tradable bounce pretty soon.
nasdaq.com\200310230702CTXPRN41188968.htm
Laserscope Reports 36% Jump in Third Quarter 2003 Revenues
Third Quarter Highlights: * GreenLight PV laser systems sold increase 70% over prior quarter * Unit sales of GreenLight PV fiber-optics grow to approximately 3,400 * Further strengthens cash position to over $6 million from $4.7 million at year-end 2002 * Revises 2003 guidance and issues 2004 expectations
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 23, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Laserscope (Nasdaq: LSCP), a pioneer in the development and commercialization of medical lasers and advanced fiber-optic devices, today reported that revenues for its third quarter ended September 30, 2003 jumped 36% to $14.3 million from $10.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, revenues increased 11% from $12.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2003. Net income was $533,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared with net income of $192,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year, and net income of $348,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2003.
"We are very pleased that revenues increased significantly on both a year- over-year and sequential basis, driven primarily by the continued adoption of our Photo-Selective Vaporization of the Prostate (PVP(TM)) procedure, and strong domestic and international sales and marketing efforts," said Eric Reuter, Laserscope's President and CEO. "Every day, we are educating a growing number of urologists, healthcare administrators and patients on the clinically-proven, long-term benefits of our proprietary procedure. We believe that our message is resonating with these individuals and our strong quarterly results are evidence of this progress."
Reuter continued, "During the quarter, we sold 34 GreenLight PV(TM) laser systems and 3,414 fibers, compared with 20 systems and 3,075 fibers in the prior quarter. Additionally, we shipped nine systems as part of our new rental program. Backlog declined to 12 systems at the end of the third quarter, versus 21 systems at the close of the second quarter, primarily as a result of progress made towards correcting the component shortage issue we experienced earlier this year."
"In the third quarter, we saw increased interest from domestic hospitals and clinics for our GreenLight PV products. Of the 34 systems sold during the quarter, 15 were shipped to this customer group. We believe that this will continue to be an important target market going forward.
"Sales for the third quarter were also bolstered by a solid performance from our aesthetics business," added Reuter. "Domestic aesthetics revenues grew 10% over the year-ago quarter. While we expect the urology market to be our long-term growth catalyst, our core aesthetics business is an important and growing part of our operations."
Gross margin was approximately 52%, compared with approximately 54% for the third quarter of fiscal 2002. Sequentially, the gross margin improved from approximately 50% for the second quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $5.8 million, or 40% of net revenues, compared with $4.5 million, or 43% of net revenues, in the year-ago quarter. Increased spending in this area came primarily from higher sales and marketing expenses relating to the GreenLight PV products, reimbursement consulting and higher legal expenses.
The Company had no short-term bank borrowings and increased its cash position to $6.1 million at September 30, 2003, from $4.7 million at the end of 2002.
Nine-Month Results
For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, the Company reported revenues of $39.6 million and net income of $1.0 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared with revenues of $30.4 million and net income of $273,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the same period in 2002.
Update on Reimbursement
The Company provided an update on the issue of medical reimbursement and recounted its recent efforts to meet this challenge. "In August, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced adjusted reimbursement rates for the various BPH treatment alternatives," stated Reuter. "These rates are due to become effective in January 2004. While the national average reimbursement rates for the PVP procedure in 2004 are now projected to be slightly higher in the outpatient hospital facility, we believe that a further increase is needed to adequately reflect the resource and equipment costs of the procedure. As a result, we are undertaking a number of different actions to improve the CMS reimbursement rates assigned to the procedure."
"We have recently had several constructive meetings with the CMS staff in order to raise their awareness to the disparity that exists, and we are hopeful that these efforts will result in positive action. However, our guidance for 2004 is based, among other things, on the current reimbursement rates that have been published by the CMS for 2004," concluded Reuter.
Guidance
The Company revises the following guidance for 2003:
* Laserscope expects that overall revenues will increase due to
continued sales growth of the PVP products. The Company anticipates
that it will sell over 11,000 PVP fiber-optic devices during the year,
an increase from its previous forecast of 9,000 to 10,000 units and
compared with the total of 3,450 devices sold in 2002. The Company
also revises its total revenue expectation for the year to exceed
$54 million.
* Gross margin, as a percentage of 2003 revenues, is expected to be in
the range of 51% to 52%.
* The Company expects research and development expenses during 2003 to
be approximately 8% of net revenues.
* Selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of net
revenues, are expected to be marginally lower than the 2002 level of
41%, but remain relatively high in absolute terms in conjunction with
continuing investment in educational and training support and
marketing programs for the PVP products.
* For the year, the Company expects net income of $0.10 to $0.11 per
diluted share. Laserscope is narrowing its previously forecasted
range of $0.10 to $0.15 per diluted share as a result of its
continued, significant investment in the urology business. The
Company is deploying its resources to further develop the GreenLight
technology, to support new sales and marketing initiatives, and to
address the reimbursement challenge.
Following its strong third quarter performance, the Company is issuing the following guidance for fiscal year 2004:
* Expecting continued adoption of the PVP procedure to drive further
sales growth of the GreenLight PV products, the Company forecasts 2004
revenues to reach the $64 million level.
* Gross margin, as a percentage of 2004 revenues, is expected to be in
the range of 53% to 55%.
* The Company expects to achieve 2004 net income of $0.30 per diluted
share.
Good Luck |
