EXHIBIT (99)-a

 

Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, projections, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. When used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the words "anticipate", "appears", "foresee", "should", "expect", "estimate", "project", "will", "are likely" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K under *Item 1. Business* and elsewhere are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve predictions of future Company performance, and are thus dependent on a number of factors, which may affect the Company's performance. Where possible, specific factors that may impact performance materially have been identified in connection with specific forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, general global and local economic, political and sociological conditions including, without limitation, periods of localized disease outbreak such as the SARS epidemic and the effect on economic, commerce, social and political systems caused by natural disasters (such as, without limitation, earthquakes, hurricanes/typhoons, tornadoes and tsunamis), changes in such conditions, the impact of competition, seasonality and general economic conditions in the global lens and lens care, ophthalmic cataract and refractive and pharmaceutical markets where the Company's businesses compete, effects of war or terrorism, changing currency exchange rates, the general political climate existing between and within countries throughout the world, events affecting the ability of the Company to timely deliver its products to customers, including those which affect the Company's carriers' ability to perform delivery services, changing trends in practitioner and consumer preferences and tastes, changes in technology, medical developments relating to the use of the Company's products, legal proceedings initiated by or against the Company, including those related to patents and other intellectual property in the U.S. and throughout the world, the impact of Company performance on its financing costs, changes in government regulation of the Company's products and operations, changes in governmental laws and regulations relating to the import and export of products, government pricing changes and initiatives with respect to healthcare products in the U.S. and throughout the world, changes in private and regulatory schemes providing for the reimbursement of patient medical expenses, changes in the Company's credit ratings, or the cost of access to sources of liquidity, the Company's ability to maintain positive relationships with third-party financing resources, the financial well-being and commercial success of key customers, development partners, and suppliers, changes in the availability of and other aspects surrounding the supply of raw materials used in the manufacture of the Company's products, changes in tax rates or policies or in rates of inflation, changes in accounting principles and the application of such principles to the Company, the performance by third parties upon whom the Company relies for the provision of goods or services, the ability of the Company to successfully execute marketing strategies, the ability of the Company to secure and maintain intellectual property protections, including patent rights, with respect to key technologies in the U.S. and throughout the world, the ability of the Company to secure and maintain copyright protections relative to its customer-valued names, trademarks, trade names and other designations in the U.S. and throughout the world, difficulties or delays in the development, laboratory and clinical testing, regulatory approval, manufacturing, release or marketing of products, the successful completion and integration of acquisitions by the Company, the successful relocation of certain manufacturing processes, the continued successful implementation of efforts in managing and reducing costs and expenses, the continued successful execution of the Company's profitability improvement plans, the Company's success in the process of management testing and auditor attestation of internal controls, as required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Company's success in introducing and implementing its enterprise-wide information technology initiatives, including the corresponding impact on internal controls and reporting, the Company's success in the process of management testing, including the evaluation of results, and auditor attestation of internal controls (as required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), the effect of changes within the Company's organization, including the selection and development of the Company's management team and such other factors as are described in greater detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, Exhibit 99-a to this 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Current Report on Form 8-K dated June 14, 2002.