All Article articles – Page 128
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The French market slows down
The latest figures from GfK for the French optical market indicate that it grew by only 1.6 percent in the first half of this year, down from an increase of 2.1 percent to €5.4 billion for all of 2010. Published in a French daily newspaper, the figures also indicate that ...
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Italy’s output slows down
Italy's eyewear exports for the first half of 2011 confirmed the growth recorded for the full 12 months of the previous year, up by 17 percent compared with 17.3 percent in 2010. These are reassuring figures for Italy's eyewear sector, but don't exclude a certain degree of concern, due partly ...
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FittingBox’ Virtual Mirror is taking on new shapes
FittingBox, which claims to be the leading supplier of virtual try-on systems for spectacles via the internet, is developing some interesting new solutions for the benefit of brands and their retail clients, such as the opportunity to try on two models at the same time through its “Virtual Mirror,” or ...
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Mister Spex focuses on Germany
Mister Spex reduced its staff by 12 percent in September. In total, 19 of the 150 employees at Mister Spex will be leaving the German online eyewear retailer by the end of this month. Only 6 percent of all employees have left the company for operational reasons. The company says ...
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Hal makes more money
Hal Holding, the major shareholder of Safilo and owner of GrandVision, Pearle Europe and other optical retail operations in Europe and elsewhere, has reported a net profit of €304.9 million for the first half of 2011, up sharply from €200.2 million. Most of the increase came from the higher profits ...
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Pro Fit Optix exits Chapter 11
The American company, whose sales rose by 84 percent in the first seven months of this year, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last Feb. 9 because of lack of cash and of financial support from its shareholders. On Aug. 22, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of ...
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The European Optical Market 2010-2011 WV Consolidated Report
IntroductionStrategy with Vision (SWV), the international consultancy, recently completed its annual research into the top 5 optical markets in Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. (referred to from here as the Top 5). The research is published as International Market Models. The information that follows in this ...
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Orange 21 books a loss but grows pro forma
Net revenues declined by 5.7 percent to $8.99 million in the second quarter ended June 30 for Orange 21, the parent company of Spy Optic. However, on a pro forma basis, sales increased by $0.6 million or 7 percent during the period. This comparison excludes revenues of $1.11 million in ...
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Essilor makes more acquisitions
With cash flow growing by 8.5 percent in the first half, Essilor easily managed to finance higher industrial investments, which amounted to 3.8 percent of consolidated revenues versus 2.8 percent in the first half of 2010, as well as a 17 percent increase in dividend payments. It also spent €148 ...
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American eye care market continues slow growth
VisionWatch has found that for the 12-month period through the end of June, overall revenues from vision care in the U.S. rose by 1.2 percent to $32.2 billion. Turnover from eye exams was up by 2.8 percent for the year, and up by 1.9 percent in volume for the six ...
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Essilor launches anti-fog lens coatings
Essilor International unveiled Friday a new category of hydrophilic ophthalmic coatings that prevent the condensation of fog on the lenses, while preserving their anti-smudge qualities. Presented as a major technological breakthrough and protected by patents for the quality and durability of their performance, Essilor's new Optifog line is expected to ...
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Safilo turns around and continues to clean up its brand portfolio
Safilo has 10 licenses expiring by the end of 2012 and the group is expected to announce the termination of a large number of them in the coming months as it concentrates on renewing the Armani brands.After 13 years of partnership, Safilo announced in June that it would not renew ...
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Hoya’s lens business fared well in the quarter
Hoya Corporation's revenues from vision care products rose by about 4 percent in local currencies in Europe during the first quarter of its financial year, ended June 30, according to company officials. The business remained difficult for the company's vision care operations in the U.K. and the Scandinavian countries, but ...
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Luxottica buys Israeli retailer
Luxottica has entered an agreement to purchase the Israeli sunglass retailer Erroca in a deal with an enterprise value of about €20 million. The transaction has to be cleared by regulatory authorities and is expected to be closed by the end of October.Erroca has more than 60 locations in shopping ...
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Vision Expo West caters to foreign visitors
Reed Exhibitions, the organizer of International Vision Expo West in Las Vegas being held Sept. 22-24, has worked to improve the experience for visitors from outside the U.S. David Tobin, Reed's director of international sales, noted that last year foreign visitors made up 13 percent of the total attendance, coming ...
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Former Gucci head will be Safilo’s chairman
Safilo will appoint Roberto Polet, previously in charge of the Gucci Group, to be its non-executive chairman at a general meeting scheduled for Oct. 5. He will replace Melchert Frans Groot, the top executive of Hal, who will remain on the board.Shareholders will also be asked to raise the number ...
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Marcolin’s chief executive resigns
Marcolin's chief executive and general manager, Massimo Saracchi, resigned during a board meeting held on Aug. 4. The decision was made in agreement with the company and he will remain at his post until Sept. 30. No reason was given for the departure but in a statement, Marcolin wished Saracchi ...
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Emerging markets will continue to drive Essilor’s growth
As indicated in the previous article, most of Essilor's recent acquisitions have taken place in emerging markets, and some of them have taken the form of partnerships with well-established local players. The group intends to accelerate this process to take full advantage of the rapidly rising demand for vision correction, ...
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Stable growth and margins for Essilor
Confirming its forecast of a sales increase of 6 to 8 percent on a currency-neutral basis and aside from strategic acquisitions for the full year, Essilor International reported last Friday an increase of only 1.1 percent to €1,032.5 million in consolidated revenues for the second quarter of this year.On a ...
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Fielmann gains margins and market share
While the rest of the optical retail sector suffered a decline in unit sales of 1 percent in Germany during the first six months of 2011, Fielmann was able to raise its unit sales by 4.9 percent to 3.3 million glasses. The country's leading optical retail chain claimed that it ...
