July 27, 8:21 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Sight Resource Reports Second Quarter Results
Improvement continues as net income rises 274% and EBITDA rises 88%. Company announces intent to expand laser vision correction segment of business.
HOLLISTON, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--July 27, 1999-- Sight Resource Corporation (NASDAQ:VISN - news), a leading provider of primary eye care services and managed vision care programs, today reported financial results for its second quarter and six months ended June 26, 1999.
Revenue for the second quarter was $17.6 million, an increase of 21 percent from revenue of $14.5 million for the second quarter of 1998. Net income was $288,000, or $0.03 per share, basic and diluted, compared with $77,000, or $0.01 per share, basic and diluted, for the second quarter of 1998. Basic and diluted share calculations for the second quarter of 1999 are based on 9,214,000 and 10,771,000 weighted average shares outstanding, respectively, compared with 8,885,000 and 10,392,000 in the prior year period. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $1,433,000 for the three months ended June 26, 1999, compared with $762,000 for the same period in 1998. Second quarter results include the operations of Shawnee Optical, acquired effective January 1, 1999, and Kent Optical, acquired effective April 1, 1999.
For the six-month period ended June 26, 1999, Sight Resource reported revenue of $33.3 million, an increase of 19 percent from revenue of $28.1 million for the same period in 1998. Net income was $461,000, or $0.05 per basic share and $0.04 per diluted share, compared with $90,000, or $0.01 per share, basic and diluted, for the first six months of the prior year. EBITDA was $2,767,000 for the six months ended June 26, 1999, compared with EBITDA of $1,355,000 for the same period in 1998.
Commenting on the results, William T. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sight Resource Corporation, stated ''We continued to see areas of improvement in our operating performance in the second quarter, as evidenced by a company-wide improvement of almost two percentage points in our gross profit margin compared to the prior year. For the quarter, net income more than tripled and EBITDA nearly doubled compared to the prior year period. These improvements were achieved in a marketplace of industry-wide softness in sales. The Company's newest acquisitions performed well during the quarter, while our New England chains performed well relative to the sluggish marketplace and benefited from the many improvements we have instituted over the past 12 months. We will continue to pursue operational improvements, including the expansion of our point-of-sale system into our mid-western businesses, which we believe will positively impact our future performance. While we are disappointed with the results of certain of our other chains, the largest of the affected business units has performed strongly in recent weeks, as a result of several initiatives undertaken during the quarter.''
Mr. Sullivan continued ''Another bright spot has been our profitable laser vision correction business, which almost doubled in revenue compared to the prior year period and provides an opportunity for future growth and improvement. Our retail optical chains, which operate in nine states and have strong positions in each of their markets, represent a valuable avenue for promoting the laser vision correction side of our business. We are examining and enhancing our strategy for leveraging our customer base to maximize our opportunities in laser vision correction.''
Mr. Sullivan further stated ''Our objective is to be more than a traditional eye care retailer. We believe we can be a total eye care provider, offering customers access to the best eye examinations, eyewear, contact lenses and laser vision correction services. In addition to our efforts to grow our laser vision correction business, we are in the process of implementing a series of initiatives that we believe will help us to grow both top line and bottom line performance of each of our seven chains. Several of these initiatives have already been implemented in some of our markets and have demonstrated positive initial results. By determining the strengths of each of our businesses and sharing those strengths within our family of businesses, we believe we can have a positive impact on our future performance.''
Sight Resource provides a complete range of primary eye care products and services through its primary eye care centers, managed care programs, laser vision correction centers and integrated networks of opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries include Cambridge Eye Doctors in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, E.B. Brown Opticians in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Eyeglass Emporium in Indiana, Kent Optical in Michigan, Shawnee Optical in Pennsylvania and Ohio, Vision Plaza in Louisiana and Mississippi, and Vision World in Rhode Island.
''Safe Harbor'' Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements contained in this news release which are not historical fact are forward-looking statements based upon management's current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and additional factors affecting the Company's business are described in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sight Resource Corporation and Subsidiaries
Selected Financial Information
(In thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Six Months
Ended June Ended June
1999 1998 1999 1998
Net revenue $ 17,582 $ 14,498 $ 33,346 $ 28,078
Cost of revenue 5,827 5,071 10,840 9,823
Gross margin 11,755 9,427 22,506 18,255
Selling, general and
administrative expense 11,300 9,311 21,494 18,206
Profit from operations 455 116 1,012 49
Interest income 19 57 61 128
Interest expense (162) (45) (244) (96)
Gain on sale of assets 0 0 0 69
Write off of deferred
financing costs 0 0 (323) 0
Total other income (143) 12 (506) 101
Profit before income
tax expense 312 128 506 150
Income tax expense 24 51 45 60
Net income: $ 288 $ 77 $ 461 $ 90
Net earnings per
common share:
Basic $ 0.03 $ 0.01 $ 0.05 $ 0.01
Diluted $ 0.03 $ 0.01 $ 0.04 $ 0.01
Weighted avg. number of
common shares outstanding:
Basic 9,214 8,885 9,137 8,791
Diluted 10,771 10,392 10,663 10,306
EBITDA $ 1,433 $ 762 $ 2,767 $ 1,355
Contact:
Sight Resource Corporation
Nils Bonde-Henriksen
Manager of Corporate Communications
508-429-6916
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