Revenues dip for LCA-Vision

LCA-Vision, Inc. announced a decrease in revenue and procedure volume for the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year.

Revenues for the quarter were $28.3 million, compared with $36.1 million in the same quarter last year. Procedure volume was 16,272, compared with 20,987 last year. Net income was $1.2 million, compared with $3.8 million.

"Multiple issues negatively impacted procedure volume during the quarter," LCA-Vison CEO Michael J. Celebrezze said. "The Consumer Confidence Index slid compared with the comparable quarters in 2012 and 2011. Based on discussions with industry sources, we believe that procedure volume for the laser vision correction market as a whole declined by 12 to 16 percent for the quarter. Also as we previously announced, we entered 2013 with a significant deficit in procedure bookings compared with the first quarter of 2012, in which year-over-year procedure volume grew 11 percent, making for a difficult comparison."

Celebrezze also believes that the federal government's mandated $2,500 limit on the maximum contribution for flexible spending accounts, which took effect at the beginning of this year, put approximately 10 percent of the company's prospective patients at risk for not moving forward with the procedure.