Eyecare products group Bausch & Lomb yesterday reported that quarterly profit more than tripled in the three months to the end of September helped by robust sales of contact lenses and pharmaceuticals for the eye.

The company, which employs almost 1,700 people at its Irish plant in Waterford, posted third-quarter earnings of $32.3 million (€27.6 million), or 60 US cents per share, compared with $9.4 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Analysts' average forecast was 58 cents a share.

Bausch said that cost-cutting and the weak dollar also contributed to its hefty profit and it expected those trends to continue, leading it to forecast earnings of 79 cents per share for the fourth quarter.

The maker of Boston contact lenses and ReNu lens-care products projected 2004 earnings of $2.50-$2.60 per share, ahead of current analyst projections.

Sales for the third quarter rose 9 per cent to $508.8 million from a year earlier. - (Reuters)