Latest Headlines – Page 107
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CooperVision continues to outperform the market
The growth of the global soft contact lens market reached 6 percent in terms of local currencies during the 12 months ended June 30, according to the Contact Lens Institute, but it slowed down to 3 percent year-on-year during the second calendar quarter of this year. CooperVision (CVI) continued to ...
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The U.S. optical business improved in August
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment rose to 3.88 in August from a July rating of 3.77, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The August 2014 rating also shows an increase from previous August ratings of 3.72 in 2013, 3.72 in ...
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Luxottica posts record profit levels in Q2
Investors reacted negatively to reports in the Italian press earlier this week that Andrea Guerra, the 49-year-old chief executive of Luxottica, may leave the company soon, after ten years of strong development at its helm, The share price fell by 3 percent to €39.47 after the reports and closed down ...
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Safilo wants house brands to represent 40-45% of sales in five to seven years
Safilo said that it plans to increase the share of house brands to 40-45 percent of the group's total revenues in five to seven years from about 20 percent currently - through organic growth and through possible new acquisitions.In a conference call with financial analysts company's chief executive, Luisa Delgado, ...
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Safilo reaches deal on layoffs at Italian plants
Safilo has reached an agreement with the unions that will lead to about 100 job losses at its Italian plants in Longarone and Santa Maria di Sala. The two factories will return to normal working levels as a 24-month solidarity contract, or a time-sharing deal, expires on Aug. 31. The ...
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Alcon to license Google’s smart lens technology for medical uses
Alcon, the eye care unit of Novartis, that owns Ciba Vision, has announced it has struck an agreement with Google[x] to license its smart lens technology for all ocular medical uses. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction remains subject to anti-trust approvals. Google[x] is the team ...
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Valeant extends its takeover bid for Allergan
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has extended the expiration of its $51 billion offer to take over Allergan from Aug. 15 to the end of this year, without any new changes in the new improved conditions laid out on June 2. It made the announcement after receiving pledges from Allergan shareholders that ...
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Hoya will be more aggressive in M&A
Hoya Corporation continues to pursue acquisition opportunities in the area of eyeglass lenses and contact lenses. In commenting on the relatively good financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, Hiroshi Suzuki, chief executive of the Japanese group, said that it is considering a “somewhat more aggressive approach” in ...
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MyOptique raises £16 million to fund further expansion
MyOptique has announced that it has secured £16 million (€20.25m-$27.31m) in additional investment, bringing the total raised in its current Series C funding round to £35 million (€44.30m-$59.75m). At the same time the British optical group, which claims to be Europe's largest online eyewear retailer, posted its year-end results, showing profitability ...
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Lenstore reaches its first £1 million revenue month
Lenstore has achieved its first £1 million (€0.8bn-$1.1bn) turnover month as it partners with Vision Express to offer in-store eye tests in Vision Express practices. The online contact lens retailer, which was acquired by Vision Express' owner, GrandVision, in December, made the record billing in May. The sum is said to ...
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Solaris merges with Avanzi in Italy
GrandVision has reportedly decided to integrate its two Italian chains, Ottica Avanzi and Solaris. In contrast with Avanzi, whose big stores sell all kinds of eyewear, Solaris stores only sell sunglasses. Avanzi is an Italian chain of high-end stores that was acquired by the Hal group via Pearle Europe in ...
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Big demand for vinyl eyewear from Hungary
Between 75 and 90 billion vinyl records were pressed between 1975 and 1990. The vinyl market collapsed with the advent of the cassette tape and the compact disc. None were sold after 1993. As a result, billions of vinyl records are sitting in people's homes and in the warehouses of ...
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Big drop in Spy’s sales
Spy has reported an 18.1 percent drop in its consolidated sales to $8.2 million for the second quarter ended June 30 as compared to a year ago, and attributed the drop mainly to a 22.3 percent decline in its sales of sunglasses, down to $6.6 million. Pointing out that it ...
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Silmo launches Silmo Istanbul
The agency that organized the new Istanbul Optik Fuari (ISOF) fair last December, 24 Saat Fuarilik, which also runs a local trade magazine, has rebranded it as Silmo Istanbul as part of a strategic alliance with the organizers of the Silmo fair in Paris. Their stated goal is to turn ...
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Vision Council study analyzes European vision correction trends
French adults are the biggest users of any kind of vision correction in Europe, according to the first VisionWatch Europe survey commissioned by the Vision Council, which was conducted among consumers in the five major European countries to check consumption trends during the 12-month period ended last March.According to the ...
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Small increase in U.S. optical business rating in July
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment was 3.77 in July, a very slight increase from the June rating of 3.76, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The July 2014 rating also shows an increase from the July 2013 rating of 3.63, ...
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Three designer brands join forces
The multi-brand concept in the eyewear sector does not have to be exclusively reserved to big conglomerates such as Luxottica, Safilo, Marchon, Marcolin or De Rigo. This business model can even be more effective when it comes to small designer brands, which generally have too small a turnover to cover ...
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Cooper Companies to buy Sauflon
Sauflon Pharmaceuticals recently denied a rumor that Essilor, which had already looked at Ciba Vision in the past, was about to purchase it. A few days ago, Cooper Companies, parent of CooperVision, reported a definitive agreement to buy Sauflon for about £700,000 or around £1.2 billion. Commenting on the deal, ...
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CVI outperforms less than before
CooperVision continued to gain market share in the first three months of this year, but did so less than before. While the global market for soft contact lenses grew by an estimated 8 percent to $1,915 during the period, according to the Contact Lens Institute, CVI raised its sales by ...
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Valeant improves its offer for Allergan
After turning down previous unsolicited takeover offers by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Allergan's board of directors has agreed to review a new proposal by the Canadian company which is due to expire on Aug. 15. The new offer would give Allergan's shareholders 0.83 Valeant shares and $72 in cash for each share ...
