BUSINESS STAAR Surgical Reports First Quarter 2023 Results By Staff Friday, May 5, 2023 12:15 AM LAKE FOREST, Calif.—STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses for the eye, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. Net sales were $73.5 million for the first quarter of 2023, up 16 percent compared to $63.2 million reported in the prior year quarter. The sales increase in the first quarter was driven by ICL sales and unit growth which were each 20 percent, as compared to the prior year period.Other product sales decreased 36 percent compared to the prior year quarter. ICL sales were 96 percent of total net sales for the first quarter of 2023.“STAAR’s performance in the first quarter demonstrates the global strength of our business with ICL units and sales both up 20 percent over the prior year as surgeons and patients seeking visual freedom from glasses and contact lenses increasingly make our EVO ICL lenses their first choice,” said Tom Frinzi, president and CEO of STAAR Surgical. “Strength in our business during the quarter was broad-based across APAC, EMEA and the U.S. In China, ICL procedure volumes increased strongly in the first quarter of 2023 with end-market procedures reaching a record level. We are maintaining a keen focus on execution against our targeted priorities and anticipate accelerating sales momentum as we move through the year."We are therefore raising our outlook for fiscal 2023 net sales from $340 million to approximately $348 million, which includes approximately $3 million of other product sales in the first quarter. Our updated outlook represents 28 percent global ICL sales growth year over year,” Frinzi said. Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $2.7 million with net income of $9.6 million for the prior year quarter. The year over year decrease in net income is attributable to higher operating expenses partially offset by higher gross profit and interest income. Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $8.7 million compared to $14.4 million for the prior year quarter.Gross profit margin for the first quarter of 2023 was 78.3 percent compared to the prior year quarter of 77.9 percent. Factors impacting the favorability in gross margin in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to the prior year quarter, include product and geographic mix, partially offset by increased period costs associated with manufacturing projects.Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2023 were $54.8 million compared to the prior year quarter of $37.2 million.Cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments available for sale at March 31, 2023, totaled $217.3 million, compared to $225.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.