All Article articles – Page 201
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The Italian Industry Launches Its Own Internet Portal, Eyesway
Eyesway is a new Italian portal is promoted by EFOP, owner of the MIDO trade fair, and ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association. will soon be up and running. Its services will include a weather forecast that gives out the UV irradiation index for the main European capitals, in order ...
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Specsavers' Comps Are Up 5.1%
Britain's largest optical retailer reports a 5.1 percent sales increase on a same-store basis in 2002 for its 670 joint venture partners, which ran a total of 491 stores by the end of last year. The number of affiliated stores grew by 50, half of which were secured by a ...
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Grandvision Reaches A 7.6% Ebit Margin
The French-based optical retailing group is still far from LensCrafters' 15 percent operating margin, but it made considerable progress in that direction in 2002, raising its own operating profit by 56 percent to 7.6 percent of sales throughout the group, up from 2.4 percent in 2000 and 5.2 percent in ...
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Visual Wins In Court Again Afflelou
Overturning a lower court's decision, a French court of appeals has allowed the Visual voluntary group to continue to run an original TV commercial that questions the quality of the lenses offered by competitors as part of their frequent ?two for one? promotions. Implying that the competitors' glasses may just ...
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Hoya Apologizes For Sub-standard Shipments
Among other bad news, Hoya Corp. apologized in its latest quarterly financial report last month for shipping a very small quantity of sub-standard products from its own line of shock-resistant plastic lenses for eyeglasses, adding that it will make more efforts to improve quality control and thus prevent such incidents ...
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Safilo Gets The Armani License
Safilo will deliver its first Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani collections to retailers for the Spring 2003 season by May, soon after presenting its new models at MIDO in Milan. The two lines, which target older and younger consumers, respectively, have been developed so far under license by Luxottica, whose ...
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Bausch & Lomb Loses One More Round With Ciba Vision, But Improves Results
Confirming the sentence of a lower court, a US federal court of appeals has ruled that Bausch & Lomb cannot manufacture or sell its PureVision contact lenses in the country until at least 2005 because they infringe on patents held by CIBA Vision for its own Night & Day continues ...
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Rodenstock Returns Into The Black
Rodenstock became profitable again last year, raising its sales of lenses and frames by about 3 percent, according to preliminary figures, with most of the growth achieved in export markets. Further improvements in sales and profits are expected in 2003. Lenses and frames represent about 80 and 20 percent of ...
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Luxottica's Next Buy May Be In The Usa
Luxottica officially denied early last week a new spate of rumors in the Italian press that it was negotiating the acquisition of De Rigo or GrandVision. A new round of rumors then began, indicating that the world's largest eyewear company was discussing a $400 million acquisition in Northern Europe, triggering ...
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Oakley Secures Growth Through New Products, Categories And Stores
One of the latest initiatives is a planned co-branded launch of progressive lenses with Essilor's Varilux line in this USA this coming Spring. Oakley is also planning to roll out a variety of new eyewear styles, including the largest frame it has ever designed and more specific sunglass models for ...
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De Rigo Posts A Marginal Sales Increase For The Year
De Rigo's consolidated revenues increased by only 1.4 percent to e512.6 million in 2002, but they rose faster on a comparable basis and profits probably increased even more. Without the sale of its interest in Ranieri of Argentina last June, the group's revenues would have increased by 2.3 percent. Currency ...
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Salmoiraghi Strengthens Its Presence In A Difficult Italian Market
No precise data are available about the Italian market, but sources indicate that it declined sharply last year, particularly in the 2nd half. As previously reported, the Italian market for sunglasses underwent a real purge after the excesses of 2001, which had led many suppliers to post major price increases ...
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Sola Grows Slowly In Europe
SOLA International's European sales grew by only 2.8 percent in local currencies in the 3rd quarter ended Dec. 31. Sales of progressive lenses rose by 3 percent. Strong results from its prescription laboratories in France, Italy and Spain were partially offset by weaker results from its wholesale business in Germany ...
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Ocular Sciences Predicts Slow Growth
Consumer traffic in US stores was slow last December and the pattern continued into January. Based on this trend and on the recent pricing problems experienced in Europe, where it is accelerating the reorganization of its production apparatus, Ocular Sciences predicts that its revenues will increase by only between 3 ...
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Vision-ease Improves Results In Quarter
The optical products group of BMC Industries reported break-even operating earnings for the 4th quarter of 2002 on 24 percent lower revenues of $21.7 million, as compared to a negative operating margin of 17 percent in the same period one year earlier. The gross margin improved to 8.7 percent from ...
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Moulin Raises Its Stake In Metzler
Moulin International's interim financial report for the 6 months ended last Sept. 30 says the Hong Kong-based group increased its share in Metzler International during the period. As of March 31 one year ago, it stood at 54.6 percent. Indicating that Moulin's equity position in Metzler is not yet finally ...
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Luxottica Reaches An 11.9% Net Margin, Anticipates A Temporary Dip
The market leader posted higher earnings in the 4th quarter, in spite of disappointing Christmas sales in the USA that led to a 1.5 percent decline in retail sales on a same-store basis. However, Luxottica's chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, predicted yesterday that there will be no more growth in profit ...
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Essilor Reaches A 15.9% Operating Margin
Essilor International reports a 26.3 percent increase in net income to e180.2 million for the 2002 financial year on 3.1 percent higher sales of e2,135 million. On a comparable basis, eliminating currency factors and the consolidation of Dollond & Aitchison's laboratory in the UK, group sales enjoyed a better than ...
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The German Market Is Off By 5%
The German optical market declined overall by an estimated 5 percent in 2002, according to ZVA, the country's optical retailers' association. Aside from the difficult economic conditions, which delayed customers' purchasing decisions, ZVA blames a boom in the sale of ready-made readers. Sold mainly in the department stores and the ...
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Ciba Makes Management Changes And Reports A 6% Sales Increase
Roland Carlen, who has been running CIBA Vision's global lens care business, steps into a new position as head of European operations, reporting to Jürgen Kudelka, head of CIBA Vision International. He will be replaced in his former post by Steve Obsdaldeston, the current president of CIBA Vision North America, ...
