(Reuters) – Alcon forecast sales of between $10.2 and $10.4 billion for 2025, after the eye care group reported higher fourth-quarter revenue underpinned by its surgical division on Tuesday.
Alcon, which produces contact lenses, eye drops and other related products, said its sales rose 6% in constant currency to $2.4 billion in the final quarter of 2024, matching analysts’ estimates in an LSEG consensus.
The 2025 outlook was also broadly in line with market expectations of $10.4 billion, LSEG’s IBES data showed.
New York-listed shares of Alcon, which makes more than 40% of its sales in the United States, closed 2% higher on Tuesday.
BTIG analysts said in a note to clients that the results were encouraging.
“Guidance is being weighed down by foreign exchange. Despite the Fx fluctuations, we view ALC’s FY25 6%-8% xFx top-line guidance as healthy,” they wrote.
The Swiss-American company’s diluted earnings per share fell 34% on a reported and constant currency basis, mainly due to tax expenses in the fourth quarter, it said.
It said it would propose a dividend of 0.28 Swiss francs ($0.31) per share for 2024 and buy back up to $750 million worth of its common shares over the next three years.
($1 = 0.8948 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi)
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