All Article articles – Page 192
-
Article
Essilor Expects Sales Growth Of 8-10% This Year
Essilor International is looking at sales growth of between 8 and 10 percent in 2004 on a currency-neutral basis, including an organic sales increase of between 4 and 6 percent. The balance will come from its most recent acquisitions and others now in the pipeline ? mostly prescription laboratories and ...
-
Article
Specsavers Raises Market Share To 31%
Reporting on a brilliant financial year, Specsavers Opticians claims that its share of the UK optical retail market grew to 31 percent in 2003 from the previous level of 27 percent ? more than double the score of the chain's closest competitor. The group's joint venture partners managed to raise ...
-
Article
Coopervision Claims A Bigger Share Of An 8% Bigger World Contact Lens Market
CooperVision estimates that its world market share in contact lenses grew last year by 2 full percentage points to 10 percent. According to the company, the world contact lens market rose by about 8 percent in constant currencies in calendar 2003, or by 14 percent in dollars to reach $3.5 ...
-
Article
Sola Acquires Big Us Coating Lab
While reporting improved results for the 3rd quarter ended Dec. 31, SOLA International has announced the acquisition of the Great Lakes Coating Laboratory in Troy, Michigan, described as the premier lens coating lab in the USA, for a total investment of $21 million including debt and contingent payments. With annual ...
-
Article
Oakley Sunglasses Start To Grow Again
Oakley's sales of sunglasses rose by 1.9 percent in units and by 9.6 percent in value in the 4th quarter of 2003, representing the first quarterly increase in volume since the 3rd quarter of 2002. The increase was triggered by an improved business with the Sunglass Hut and OPSM stores ...
-
Article
Italian Sunglass Exports Fall, And Factories Close In The Belluno District
The weak eyewear market and the weak dollar have been putting a lot of pressure on the Italian eyewear industry, particularly in the lower price segment. Both have badly affected some small and medium-sized firms that earn their living as contract manufacturers for major Italian companies such as Safilo and ...
-
Article
Us Retailer Buys Visiontec
VisionTec is an innovative British supplier of daily disposable contact lenses, based in Plymouth, whose main asset seems to be a team of professionals, led by Dr. Alan Cooke, who have over 170 combined years of experience in the development of new products and manufacturing methods for such companies as ...
-
Article
Moulin And Hal Offered More Than Luxottica For Cole National
Moulin International, HAL Trust and another unnamed co-bidder made an offer last Nov. 17 to take over Cole National at a price of $25.00 per share, but in the end Cole's board decided to turn it down because it would have taken too long for Moulin to get the required ...
-
Article
European Union Implements Safety Directive For Sunglasses
Sunglasses feature in the list of ?Personal Protection Equipment? devices covered by the European Union's new directive on consumer safety, which was implemented at the beginning of this year. Producers are obliged to follow the rules laid down to guarantee the safety of these products and to give the final ...
-
Article
Elegance Seeks Permission To Produce More For Safilo
Elegance International has called a special general meeting for March 31 to vote on a proposal to raise the value of transactions it can carry out with Safilo without substantial disclosure. The two companies have enjoyed a relationship since 1996, but their transactions are governed by certain rules communicated to ...
-
Article
Ocular Sciences Grows Strongly In Europe, Too
Calculated in local currencies, Ocular Sciences' European sales rose by 18 percent in the 4th quarter ended last Dec. 31 and by 15 percent for the full year 2003. Thanks to the strengthening euro and to OSC's acquisition of Seiko's contact lens business last April, the company's revenues outside the ...
-
Article
Fabris Lane Wants To Go International
This British sunglass specialist, which is moving slightly up-market, will show for the first time at the MIDO fair next May 7-9 in order to build up a network of distributors in key countries for its various lines. Contact are already afoot in such territories as the USA, where Fabris ...
-
Article
Salmoiraghi Improves
The final figures for the 12-month period to the end of last September confirm that the leading Italian optical retail chain regained the ground lost in the 1st half of the financial year, when it posted a 7 percent drop in sales. Thanks to a sales increase of 8 percent ...
-
Article
Mido Launches New Initiatives
A series of high-level training sessions in English and Italian for opticians and optometrists from all over the world is among the novelties planned for the forthcoming 3-day edition of MIDO, scheduled to run on 7-9 May. It's part of a so-called new ?MIDO-Eyesystem? intended to maximize the benefits of ...
-
Article
New Ownership For Solistyle
Yves Fargier, a French entrepreneur involved in the construction of bridges and other metallic structures, has been selected by a French bankruptcy court to take over Solistyle at an undisclosed price, in competition with offers made by Foster Grant and about 4 other candidates. Pascal Lamy continues as CEO, but ...
-
Article
De Rigo Reports A Sales Drop Of 1.5%
In terms of local currencies, De Rigo's sales increased by 3.5 percent last year, with a 1.9 percent drop in wholesale revenues compensated by a 7.0 percent increase in retail revenues. In its accounts in euros, the Italian company reports a 1.5 decline in consolidated revenues to €504.8 million, with ...
-
Article
Airess Goes Into Liquidation
Dunhill, Escada, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Morgan and other licensors of the French group will be free now to look for new eyewear licensees or contractors, buying up millions of euros worth of inventories at relatively low prices in the liquidation proceedings. The French bankruptcy court handling Airess' liquidation is also putting ...
-
Article
Bausch & Lomb Raises Profits Sharply
Bausch & Lomb's board of directors has decided a share buyback after two years of solid improvements in net earnings and strong cash flow. The company recorded net income of $125.5 million in 2003, up sharply from $72.5 million in the previous year. Excluding extraordinary items, net income from continuing ...
-
Article
Luxottica's Improved Bid For Cole National Has Been Deemed As Friendly
There is still a chance that HAL Trust, the biggest shareholder in this large American optical retail chain with a stake of about 20 percent, will propose a higher price per share than the $22.50 offered by Luxottica last month. Our guess is that HAL will refrain from a counter-bid ...
-
Article
Luxottica Reports Disappointing Results But Hopes To Do Better
Luxottica's net income declined last year by 28.1 percent to €267.3 million, but it would have been €65 million higher than that without the 16.4 percent devaluation of the dollar against the euro. The group's chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, is budgeting a 15 percent profit increase for 2004 in constant ...
