biz.yahoo.com , part 1:
Thursday March 5, 6:41 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Sight Resource Reports 1997 Results
HOLLISTON, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--March 5,
1998--Sight Resource Corporation (NASDAQ:VISN - news), a
leading provider of primary eye care services and managed vision
care programs, today reported operating results for its fourth
quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 1997.
For the year ended December 31, 1997 the Company reported
revenue of $44.6 million, up 49% from last year's $30.0 million. The
Company reported a net loss of $2.0 million, or 23 cents per share,
compared to $5.9 million, or 78 cents per share, for the prior year.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization) for the year ended December 31, 1997 was $204,000,
compared to a loss of $1.2 million for the prior year. The $2.0
million net loss for the year ended December 31, 1997 included a
non-recurring provision of $400,000 for the write-off of software
associated with the Company's point-of-sale (POS) system and a
provision of $110,000 for store closings. The $5.9 million net loss for
the year ended December 31, 1996 included a non-recurring
provision of $2.6 million for fixed asset impairment. The
Company's results include the operations of Vision Plaza, a
wholly-owned subsidiary that was acquired effective July 1, 1997.
For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1997 the Company
reported revenue of $11.4 million, an increase of 33% over revenue
of $8.6 million for the prior year period. The Company reported a
net loss of $1.5 million, or 17 cents per share, compared to $3.9
million, or 45 cents per share, for the prior year period. The loss for
the quarter ended December 31, 1997 included the non-recurring
provision of $400,000 and the provision of $110,000, each as
described above. The prior year period included a non-recurring
provision of $2.6 million, or 30 cents per share, for fixed asset
impairment.
William T. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sight
Resource Corporation, stated, ''This marks the first time Sight
Resource has achieved positive EBITDA for the year. While Sight
Resource's financial performance improved in 1997, our goal is to
make more dramatic improvements in 1998. After just five weeks
with the Company, I am even more convinced that Sight Resource
is a Company with tremendous potential. In 1998 our focus will
clearly be on better managing our strong, regionally based,
primary eye care chains. With the excellent, experienced, optical
retail managers that we now have running these businesses, we
expect to continue to make significant improvements in 1998 as we
impose more stringent controls on costs and work to improve our
comparable store top-line growth. We also intend to continue to
pursue the acquisition of strong regional operations which will be
accretive to earnings.''
About Sight Resource Corporation:
Sight Resource provides a complete range of primary eye care
products and services through its primary eye care centers, 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,
Vision Plaza in Louisiana and Mississippi, and Vision World in
Rhode Island.
In the highly fragmented $19 billion primary eye care industry,
Sight Resource believes that it can improve operations through
economies of scale. The Company believes that expansion in new
and existing regions also offers increased geographic coverage that
is important to managed care payors and can help the Company to
compete for new managed primary eye care contracts. The
incremental income from such contracts can increase the
utilization of each individual primary eye care center, increasing
revenue beyond what would be attainable through normal retail
market development activities.
In the last 15 weeks Sight Resource has announced: the completion
of a $5.1 million financing with The Carlyle Group, a Washington
D.C. based investment group; the appointment of Richard G.
Darman, a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, to the
Company's Board of Directors; the appointment of Craig H. Risk as
Vice President of Operations; the appointment of William T.
Sullivan, former President of Pearle Vision Center, as President
and Chief Executive Officer and to the Company's Board of
Directors; the appointment of J. Mitchell Reese, Managing
Director of Carlyle Venture Partners, to the Company's Board of
Directors; and, the promotion of three senior managers to the title
of Vice President and General Manager of the Company's primary
eye care chains in the three regions where the Company currently
operates.
''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, 1996 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. |
