All Article articles – Page 189
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Gifo Becomes An Umbrella Organization
GIFO, the association of French optical industries, has been restructured into a national umbrella organization encompassing also six other French interest groups on the supply side of the business. The general aim is to augment the lobbying and negotiating power of the French eyewear industry in order to respond more ...
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Luxottica Wins The Bid For Cole National
Luxottica is not giving out any comments on what it plans to do with Cole National before it closes its acquisition, probably toward the end of the year. In its discussions with the US Federal Trade Commission, which may lead the group to divest some stores, Luxottica has committed itself ...
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Sola Wants To Buy More Labs
A 19 percent increase in the revenues generated by its growing international network of prescription laboratories in the 1st quarter ended June 30 contributed to Sola International's overall revenue increase of 7.3 percent to €165.2 million in the period. Sola says it intends to acquire similar business worldwide in the ...
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Small Italian Eyewear Producers Set Up A Retail Chain
In Fabbrica, a name that connotess direct salling from the producer to the consumer, is going to be the banner of a new chain of optical retail stores set up by 11 small and medium-sized producers of eyewear in the Cadore district near Venice. The want to open a total ...
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The German Eyewear Sector Pushes Exports And Creativity
Spectaris, the German optical industry association, predicts that the German eyewear industry's domestic sales will suffer a 20 percent drop in the consumer optics sector this year, in contrast with last year's exceptional increase of 15 percent. Including optical equipment and eye pharmaceuticals, total sales in Germany may still increase ...
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The Czech Republic Is A Growing Market
Many important exhibitors at last spring's Opta, the Czech optical fair in Brno, reported major sales increases in the Czech Republic for 2003, in line with the rapid evolution of the local market, which joined the customs-free European Union last May 1. The growth rates ranged from 3-5 ...
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De Rigo Signs Escada License And A First Deal With Viva
The third-largest Italian eyewear producer reports a 0.9 percent sales increase to €275.9 million for the first six months of this year, stressing that the increase would have been more like 8.8 percent without taking into account the sales of Eyewear International Distribution (EID), the joint venture with Prada that ...
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Fedon's First Half Sales Are Down
The world's leading producer of eyewear cases closed the 1st half of 2004 with turnover at €30.23 million, off 3.45 percent compared with the same period last year. Callisto Fedon, the group's chairman, claims the 6-month figure is in line with expectations as he didn't expect to match the 11.4 ...
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Safilo Grows, But Taxes Eat Up Profit
Safilo posted significantly improved turnover and margins for the 1st half of 2004. The group's operating profit (Ebit) grew by 34.5 percent to €16.8 million, equivalent to 3.2 percent of turnover, but deferred taxes contributed to a hefty €16.3 million tax bill, leading to a first-half loss of €1.6 million ...
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Fielmann Gains Market Share
Fielmann's sales in Germany declined by only 16 percent in units and by 11.1 percent in value to €256.4 million in the first 6 months of this year. With the German market estimated to have dropped by between 20 and 29 percent due to the phase-out of government subsidies for ...
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Hoya Sports Good Margins
The Japanese group raised its net profit by 65.6 percent to 16,222 million yen (€121.7m-$147.3m) during the company's 1st quarter ended June 30 on 17.3 percent higher total revenues of ¥74.96 billion (€562.3m-$680.4m). The results of its eye care operations improved, but most of the growth in sales and profits ...
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Essilor Acquires Ltl In Italy And One More Lab In The Usa
Essilor has acquired LTL, an Italian distributor of finished lenses, for an undisclosed amount in a move designed to strengthen its position in the complex Italian market, which is dominated by numerous small players who have close relationships with local opticians. Officials of Signet Armorlite, which distributes its products through ...
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Alain Affelou Launches Its Second Banner
Alain Affelou has finally launched its second chain of stores in France. Called Lunettes Plurielles (meaning ?plural eyeglasses?), the new format offers special prices to customers under the age of 18 and to those who purchase more than one pair. The first two stores were opened on June 24 in ...
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Bmc Industries Sells Vision-ease
BMC Industries and its subsidiaries in the USA have filed a request for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after repeated attempts to restructure the group's bulging debt. At the same time, BMC has announced that it has agreed to sell substantially all the domestic and foreign assets of its Vision-Ease lens ...
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Carrefour Sells Its Remaining Optical Stores In Italy And Eastern Europe
Fotex-Ofotert, a large Hungarian chain of over 100 optical shops trading under the Fotex, Ofotert and Vision Express banners, is entering the Czech and Polish and markets through the acquisition of 13 and 9 stores in these two countries, respectively, previously owned by Carrefour. Another 12 optical stores operated by ...
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Luxottica Will Have A New Ceo
The board of directors scheduled for July 27 is expected to endorse a proposal to appoint a brilliant 38-year-old manager, Andrea Guerra, as the new chief executive officer of Luxottica Group. Technically, he will replace Roberto Chemello, but he will have extended responsibilities, reporting to the group's chairman, Leonardo Del ...
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Important Licenses Change Hands
Luxottica has announced the conclusion of a 5-year license for the design, production and sale worldwide of Donna Karan and DKNY eyewear, starting next January, replacing Marchon whose contract expires at the end of this year. The Italian group expects to generate sales of about €70 million from these two ...
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Trivex' Sales Double
PPG Industries says sales of its new Trivex lens material more than doubled in 2003, the second year that it has been available, accounting for 3 percent of the global ophthalmic lens market. That compares with 37 percent for C39 plastic materials, 36 percent for mineral glass, 11 percent for ...
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Numbers Drop At Elegance
Elegance International's sales dipped by 14.6 percent to HK$327.7 million (€34.0m-$42.0m), and net profit fell by 66.0 percent to HK$19.0 million (€2.0m-$2.4m) for the year ended March 31. The group cited SARS, the invasion of Iraq, the depreciation of the US dollar, increases in costs of raw materials and rising ...
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Sola Feels It Can Outperform The Market
SOLA International expects the global lens market to grow by only 2-3 percent this year, with relatively constant volumes in mature markets of North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. Emerging markets like China and India should provide double-digit growth in units but average selling prices will probably decline, resulting in ...
