Bausch & Lomb issues another recall

Bausch & Lomb Inc. recalled more than 1 million bottles of contact lens solution after excess levels of iron were discovered and said fourth-quarter earnings fell 70% because of a previous recall.

Bausch & Lomb had no reports of serious harm to users in the latest recall, involving the ReNu MultiPlus solution, the Rochester, N.Y.-based company said. The recall, which was voluntary, won’t hurt financial results, the company said, adding that revenue would grow this year.

The company last year ceased production of its ReNu with MoistureLoc solution at the same plant in Greenville, S.C., where ReNu MultiPlus is made. In that case, the solution was linked to a potentially blinding fungus. The plant was the target of a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration in October.

The recall “does make one question a little bit their internal quality systems,” said Christopher Cooley, an analyst with FTN Midwest Securities Corp. in Cleveland. The effect of the recall on the company’s earnings will probably be negligible, he said.

The shares rose $1.30 to $51.72. The stock has fallen 24% in 12 months.

Income before income taxes and minority interest fell to $25 million in the fourth quarter from $84.3 million a year earlier, the company said.

The excess iron cited in Tuesday’s recall may have caused the solution to become discolored and shortened the time the product is effective, the company said. The recall covered 12 lots, with nine of those in the U.S.

About 1 million bottles from those nine lots were originally distributed in the U.S. The product also was distributed in Canada, Latin America, South Korea and Taiwan, where it also is being recalled.

Company spokeswoman Barbara Kelley said in an e-mail that the recall was related to a single batch of raw material from an outside supplier and the risk to consumers was “extremely low” because “virtually all of the product has already been used.”