LAVAL, Quebec—Bausch Health Companies (NYSE/TSX: BHC) reported Tuesday that its revenues totaled $2.14 billion in the third quarter, a decline of 4 percent ($83 million) compared with $2.22 billion in the year-ago period. However, excluding the impact of 2017 divestitures and discontinuations ($112 million) and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange ($30 million), Bausch said its revenue grew organically by 3 percent compared with the year-ago third quarter. The increase was driven by organic growth across all four business segments. (Bausch Health is the new name of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and includes the B+L contact lens business.)

Bausch Health chairman and chief executive officer Joseph C. Papa said in the announcement that the third-quarter results demonstrate the company’s “progress toward transformation is on track” and that it continues to execute against the core business plan, launch new products, resolve legacy issues and reduce debt.

"In addition to another consecutive quarter of overall organic growth, the company delivered organic growth across all reporting segments and generated robust cash flow from operations in the third quarter of 2018," he added

In its Bausch + Lomb/International segment (which includes eyecare and contact lenses), the company reported revenue of $1.15 billion in the quarter, a decrease of 7 percent compared with $1.23 billion in the year-ago period. However, excluding the impact of divestitures and discontinuations ($94 million), and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange ($29 million), the Bausch + Lomb/International segment grew organically by approximately 3 percent compared with the third quarter of 2017, the announcement noted.

Within this B+L/International segment, global vision care revenue (including Softlens, Biotrue ONEday, Bausch + Lomb ULTRA and PureVision contact lenses) totaled $209 million in the quarter, which represented an “organic” increase of 3 percent, while global consumer revenue (Ocuvite and PreserVision eye vitamins, Biotrue Multi-Purpose Solution and Lumify eye drops) totaled $354 million, also an “organic” increase of 3 percent. This marked the eighth consecutive quarter of organic revenue growth for the B+L/International segment, according to the company.

Among the highlights of the quarter, Bausch said Lumify eye drops have become the No. 1 physician-recommended brand in the redness reliever category and one of the top two brands in the category, achieving a weekly market share of 26 percent. In September, Bausch launched Aqualox (Silicone hydrogel, or SiHy, daily) in Japan.

On the bottom line, Bausch reported a net loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 of $350 million, compared with net income of $1.3 billion in the year-ago period (a swing of $1.65 billion). The decrease in net income was “primarily due to a tax benefit of $1.397 billion” in last year’s third quarter, the company noted.

Bausch maintained its full-year revenue guidance range and raised the full-year adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) guidance range. In addition, Bausch said it repaid more than $360 million of debt in the third quarter with cash generated from operations.