Refractive surgery volume expected to remain sluggish

ESCRS EuroTimes

The European refractive surgery market will continue to be sluggish, if EU consumer confidence measures are any predictor.

The European Commission's recently reported that consumer confidence for all EU countries in July measured a pessimistic -12, where it has been stuck since late 2003. The index is based on a survey of 25,000 households.

Such a measure is a good predictor of future volume of refractive surgery procedures, according to David Harmon, president of Market Scope, a St. Louis , Mo. , company that measures the U.S. ophthalmology market.

Surveying the U.S. market, Mr. Harmon says his company has linked changes in volume of LASIK procedures to changes in consumer confidence measures in every quarter for the past four years.

Mr. Harmon cautioned that he had not compared consumer confidence measures to LASIK demand in Europe, but added that the link he found in the United States may well apply. As in Europe, U.S. refractive surgery is usually not covered by health insurance, making it an out-of-pocket expense that is easily influenced by a consumer confidence, he said.

The European market has shown sluggishness in some recently released second-quarter reports by ophthalmologic equipment companies that are publicly traded in the United States .

Bausch & Lomb, based in Rochester , N.Y. , reported that sales for refractive surgery products were flat in Europe, even as they were up by nearly 30% in the Americas .

Alcon, based in Hunenberg , Switzerland , said sales for refractive products fell 16.8% in the second quarter. It said nothing about Europe, but it noted an increased demand for LASIK and custom procedures in the U.S.

VISX, based in Santa Clara , Calif. , and WaveLight, based in Erlangen , Germany , and did not break out European sales, but both reported strong overall refractive sales.

Reflecting the surge in sales already apace in the United States , U.S. consumer confidence measures, such as the Conference Board and the AP-Ipsos surveys, are showing a booming U.S. consumer appetite this summer.

Reports in Europe , however, are gloomier.

The European Commission's July confidence measure showed slightly positive figures for Denmark , Finland , Ireland , Luxembourg and Sweden . But Germany reported -17, France -16 and the UK -4. And counties like Greece , Italy , and Poland were at -20 or higher. (see chart)

“While households were somewhat more optimistic concerning future unemployment, their views on their own future financial situation darkened slightly,” the commission reported. “Households' views on the general future economic situation remained unchanged.”

Other country-specific surveys generally reflected the commission's findings. For example:

* The Icon German consumer confidence index fell two points to 83 in July, erasing gains made in June.

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