Visx Profit Slightly Below Forecasts

Visx Inc., the biggest maker of lasers used to correct vision, reported a quarterly profit slightly below expectations and said earnings for the rest of the year will miss forecasts.

The firm earned $5.92 million, or 11 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $10.7 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier, helped by cost-cutting. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 12 cents. In the year-ago quarter, Visx had a cost of $37.8 million, or 40 cents a share, for settling antitrust lawsuits.

Sales fell 24% to $36.6 million amid a decline in demand for vision-correction surgery.

Visx forecast earnings of 15 cents to 18 cents in the second half on lower sales, compared with expectations of 27 cents.

Shares of Santa Clara, Calif-based Visx fell as much as 11% in after-hours trading. Before the announcement, the shares closed up 13 cents at $9.30 on the NYSE.