All Article articles – Page 200

  • Article

    Big Drop At Vision Express Depresses Grandvision's Sales For The Quarter

    2003-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Suffering from the weakness of the pound and the economic downturn in some European countries, the French-based retailer, which runs 382 stores in various parts of Europe under the GrandOptical, Solaris, Vision Express and Générale d'Optique banners, has taken emergency measures to safeguard its margins. For the first 3 months ...

  • Article

    Indo Takes Control Of Its Italian Distribution

    2003-04-18T00:00:00Z

    The Spanish group has raised to 50.1 percent the stake of 30 percent that it had acquired last year in Diamonex CB Medical, the Italian firm that is distributing its own ophthalmic lenses, raising to e304,538 Indo's total investment on the Italian project. It's going to use Diamonex now to ...

  • Article

    Initial Signs Of Recovery For Italy's Eyewear Exports

    2003-04-18T00:00:00Z

    A turnaround evidently occurred in the 2nd half, offsetting the poor scores previously announced for the first 6 months of 2002. Italy's eyewear exports are showing signs of recovery, as they recorded a growth of 2.4 percent for the entire 10-month period through last October. While frame exports dropped by ...

  • Article

    Safilo's Revenues Rise But Profit Falls

    2003-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Despite the difficult market situation, Safilo raised its revenues by 6 percent to a total of e896.3 million in 2002, thanks in part to the new Yves Saint Laurent line. The recent acquisition of the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani licenses should help reach the target of topping e1 billion ...

  • Article

    The German Market Is Off By 2%

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Germany's economic woes took their toll on the country's opticians, whose retail sales sank by 2 percent to an estimated level of e3.958 million in 2002, despite a continued upward trend in the consumers' choices and in the average price of the products sold. In terms of volume, the number ...

  • Article

    Big Drop At Vision Express Depresses Grandvision's Sales For The Quarter

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Suffering from the weakness of the pound and the economic downturn in some European countries, the French-based retailer, which runs 382 stores in various parts of Europe under the GrandOptical, Solaris, Vision Express and Générale d'Optique banners, has taken emergency measures to safeguard its margins. For the first 3 months ...

  • Article

    Indo Takes Control Of Its Italian Distribution

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    The Spanish group has raised to 50.1 percent the stake of 30 percent that it had acquired last year in Diamonex CB Medical, the Italian firm that is distributing its own ophthalmic lenses, raising to e304,538 Indo's total investment on the Italian project. It's going to use Diamonex now to ...

  • Article

    Safilo's Revenues Rise But Profit Falls

    2003-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Safilo continued to grow through the 12 months of 2002 despite the difficult market situation, raising its revenues by 6 percent to a total of e896.3 million. The target is to top e1 billion in 2003, thanks in part to the acquisition of the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani licenses. ...

  • Article

    Fielmann's Net Profit Goes Up By 14.5% On 6.0% Higher Sales

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Fielmann recorded the 5th consecutive increase in annual net earnings last year. After an excellent 4th quarter, they rose by around 14.5 percent to about e45 million on record consolidated sales of e657 million, up 6.0 percent from the record level they had reached in 2001. Including franchises, sales were ...

  • Article

    Recovery In Sight At Fedon After Revenues Fall By 3.8 %

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    The difficulties experienced on the global eyewear market have not spared Fedon, the world's leading producer of eyewear cases, which ended the year 2002 with turnover down by 3.87 percent to e56.33 million. After a drastic 18.5 percent fall in revenues posted for the first half of the year, the ...

  • Article

    Back In Business, The Former Galileo Makes A 5% Profit Margin

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    This long-established Italian lens manufacturer from the Venice region went into liquidation in 1999 and was subsequently acquired by Ital-lenti, located in the Belluno region, in January of 2000 for e5.7 million. Called Oftalmica Galileo Italia, the new company set up by Leo Polzotto, owner of Ital-lenti, integrated his company's ...

  • Article

    Essilor Acquires Germany's Fifth Largest Lens Firm, Rupp + Hubrach

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Rupp + Hubrach is the 5th biggest player in the German corrective lens market, with an excellent brand image in terms of innovation, quality and service. Including a small portion of BBGR's product line, which it has been distributing in Germany for many years, R+H had a market share of ...

  • Article

    Airess Has Reorganized Its Operations, Following A Cash Squeeze

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Airess has joined the chorus of European suppliers who complain that many of their customers, particularly those in the Middle East and Asia, are paying their bills much later, in some cases because some large Italian competitors are offering better conditions. Besides, late last year this large French manufacturer of ...

  • Article

    Three Uk Associations Come Under The Same Roof

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Three UK trade associations have moved from their respective premises in the London area into a nice single headquarters in Paddington, with a combined staff of 15 persons. They are the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO), the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO) and the Association of British Dispensing ...

  • Article

    Gatto Astucci Moves Into Display Units For Retailers

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Gatto Astucci, which claims to be the second largest producer of eyewear cases in the Western world after Fedon, has started to diversify like its main rival. It has acquired Modaplex, an Italian company based in Padua with annual sales of about e5 million that specializes in high-quality in-store display ...

  • Article

    Solidly Back In The Black, Marcolin Focuses On D&G, Sports And The Usa

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    The recent reorganization of its US operations and the addition of new licenses helped the Marcolin to achieve much better results in 2002. The management feels it can improve further by accelerating its development in the USA, in the sports eyewear sector and around the its strongest fashion brand, Dolce ...

  • Article

    Berthet-bondet Will Probably Change Hands Soon

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Court authorities have invited any interested parties to bid for the entire company or parts of it before March 31. They have set Apr. 25 as the date for a decision on any proposals, but these deadlines may be postponed if current negotiations with potential investors show some progress soon. ...

  • Article

    Luxottica Helps De Rigo In The Usa

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Luxottica has closed the US headquarters of IC Optics in New Jersey barely one month after its acquisition. It will use its own strong national sales organization to market its Versace line of frames and sunglasses in the world's largest market. Furthermore, Luxottica has agreed to market Prada eyewear ...

  • Article

    A New Type Of Rimless Frame Emerges From The Demise Of The Former Galileo

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Antonio Pincin, a young Italian entrepreneur whose companyoriginally produced eyewear exclusively under contract, has succeeded in doubling its production by gaining a foothold in the Russian market through the former Galileo and by coming up with a highly innovative new product. When Ital-lenti bought out the bankrupt Galileo ...

  • Article

    Essilor Hopes To Hold Margins High Despite Likely Slower Sales Growth

    2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

    In 2002, Essilor posted a 27.9 percent jump in net profit to e182.4 million, boosting its operating margin from 15.0 to 15.9 percent in spite of challenging market conditions and a growth in sales of just 3.3 percent to e2,138.3 million. Pre-tax income rose by 19 percent to e277.7 million. ...