Bausch + Lomb CFO says 2024 ‘an investment year’

Speaking during the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference earlier, Bausch + Lomb CFO Sam Eldessouky said in part: “I echo what (CEO) Brent (Saunders) said when — I looked at many of the models out there, and I think you’ve done a nice job with how you thought about 2024 for us. And really the key comes down to if you start from the top line, you’re starting down with how we think about the growth in the business, and we always said that we’re going to be growing at or above market. So think about it. The markets are around the mid-single digits. But also the key decision, and that’s part of the comments that we made in the last earnings call, was we’re early days in the MIEBO launch, and we’re early days. We’re just closing in our transaction with XIIDRA. And we knew that based on the early data that we’ve seen, that there was something good with us, and we wanted to make sure that we’re going to continue to invest behind it. So when you think about 2024 for us, it’s an investment year. That’s how I think about it. There’s — yeah. I think Brent mentioned it also in the last earnings call. This is our highest number of launches we’ve had in B + L history. So we’re going to fuel those launches with investments. And as you start thinking about the margin, it is not going to be a lift, immediate lift from a year-to-year basis. It’s going to be a steady growth of margin as you go forward.” In afternoon trading, Bausch + Lomb shares are down 71c, or 4%, to $15.68.