Latest Headlines – Page 105
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CVI performs less well than expected
Adverse currency movements and the integration of Sauflon Pharmaceuticals, the U.K.-based contact lens company, acquired last August, led Cooper Companies to report worse results than previously expected for the fourth quarter ended on Oct. 31, especially for its CooperVision (CVI) subsidiary.Boosted by Sauflon, CVI's sales jumped by 18 percent to ...
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CVI continues to outperform the market
In commenting on the latest results of Cooper Companies, its chief executive, Bob Weiss, said he remained confident that it will continue to gain market shares and generate strong increase in profitability in 2015 and well beyond, reaching an operating profit margin of at least 26 percent even if the ...
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Google Glass takes a hit, but smart glasses have a promising future
Google has closed down the “Basecamps” that it had set up New York, San Francisco and London to get customers to try on its enhanced-reality Google Glasses, arguing that most inquiries have been coming through its website and its Play Store. However, observers believe that Google is giving up on ...
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Luxottica and Zeiss develop new smart eyewear
Eight months after its agreement with Google for the development of Oakley and Ray-Ban frames using Google Glass technology, Luxottica has announced a partnership with Intel in the broader area of wearable technologies, following two years of negotiations.The multi-year R&D collaboration between the two companies will apply to premium, luxury ...
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The U.S. optical business improved in October, fell slightly in November
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment showed an increase in October, up to a rating of 3.77 as compared to a rating of 3.71 in September, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment ...
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Fielmann improves margins
Germany's biggest optical retailer has reported an increase of only 1.9 percent in volume to 1.92 million pairs of glasses for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. However, its consolidated sales grew by 5.4 percent to €318.3 million, indicating higher average selling prices, and the quarterly net profit went up ...
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Luxottica posts its best Q3 on record
The shambles at Luxottica's top management did not stop the group from achieving another brilliant performance, posting its best third-quarter results on record. The company reported net profit of €162 million, up by 10.1 percent from the previous year. Net earnings actually jumped by 17.5 percent to €173 million on ...
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Luxottica has two new co-CEOs
Luxottica has finalized its top management structure, after several false moves. Last month, the group's board of directors appointed with immediate effect the group's chief operating officer, Massimo Vian, as joint chief executive in charge of operations and products, and approved the appointment of its other new joint chief executive, ...
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Safilo’s Q3 goes up, not all profit margins
Safilo's operating margin narrowed down to 2.2 percent of sales in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from 2.8 percent a year earlier. Not only did the company miss market expectations, but the decline is being reported while the company is in the throes of reinventing itself after the French ...
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Safilo wants Smith to be a more global brand
Safilo has announced a thorough restructuring of its Smith Optics subsidiary in the U.S. with the objective of turning it into a global brand. The move will lead to further integration with the Safilo group and the closure of Smith's headquarters in Ketchum, Idaho, which has a staff of about ...
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Marchon invests in Italy and Asia
Marchon Eyewear has annunced a €3 million investments in its Italian facilities in the Belluno district, which had already been expanded considerably in 2011. They will lead to a 30 percent increase in production capacity and add about 2,000 square meters of additional office space, including a new showroom ...
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Marcolin expands in Italy and abroad
Marcolin has announced the acquisition of a new 3,500-square-meter manufacturing facility in Longarone, the heart of the Italian eyewear district. The new site is due to start operations in mid-2015, effectively doubling the volume of Marcolin's products that are made in Italy and in-house.The company describes the move as part ...
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Maui Jim wants to stay independent
Confirming a report in our last issue, Luxottica recently made a very generous offer to acquire Maui Jim, but its founder, owner and chief executive, Walter Hester, said no. He told us that he has received offers of well over $600 million for his company, but said that he is ...
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Mykita on a growth path
There were rumors at the Silmo show that Luxottica was going to take over Mykita, the important German brand of designer eyewear. Luxottica is evidently trying to expand the range of designer eyewear brands in its portfolio beyond the likes of Oliver Peoples and Alain Mikli, but the hottest properties ...
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Bushnell is doing well and ATK may keep it
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is reviewing a plan to spin off Bushnell and the other parts of its Sporting Goods segment to a new publicly trade company controlled by its shareholders. Called Vista Outdoor, the new company was going to start trading in January. However, after setting Dec. 9 as the ...
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Essilor accelerates in lenses
Essilor International has reported a 14.4 percent increase in consolidated sales to €1,415 million for the third quarter, with an organic increase of 3.9 percent excluding the currency effect, which was marginal this time, and a boost of 10.6 percentage points from acquisitions. The group's recent big investments in Coastal.com ...
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Essilor’s latest international acquisitions
Essilor International has acquired a majority stake in Company Grand Vision, a distributor of ophthalmic lenses and contact lenses in Russia with annual revenues of around €29 million. Company Grand Vision will continue to be led by its current management team. This acquisition is intended to strengthen Essilor's multi-network strategy ...
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Hoya continues to grow strongly
The Life Care segment of Hoya Corporation, which includes its vision care of operations, raised its sales by 20.5 percent to 75.49 billion yen (€529.78m-$658.54m) in the second quarter of its financial year, ended Sept. 30, and its pre-tax profit rose at a similar rate to ¥13.18 billion (€92.50m-$114.98m), or 17.5 ...
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Lens firms launch new consumer campaigns in Europe
Determined to gain further market share in the opthalmic optics market, Hoya is launching its first consumer-oriented brand campaign in Europe. Each country is implementing it differently and at different times. Some have started already in September and others will only start next January, but the general goal is to ...
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New developments in Valeant’s bid for Allergan
Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the big Canadian-based group that has owned Bausch & Lomb since last year, sent a letter to Allergan's shareholders on Oct. 27 stating that it was prepared to increase the proposed price of its takeover offer again from $72 to $200 per share. The new offer coincided with ...
