Latest Headlines – Page 133
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Rodenstock returns to sales growth
Things are getting better for Rodenstock. The German producer of eyeglass lenses and spectacle frames managed to record a sales increase of 4.8 percent to €361 million in 2010 – the first increase since 2007. With revenues of €282 million, the business area of eyeglass lenses accounted for 78 percent ...
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Signature Eyewear remains profitable
Signature Eyewear posted its 22nd consecutive quarterly profit for the three-month period ended April 30, although there was a decrease in profits and sales from the same quarter a year ago. It has reported net income of $9,000 for the latest quarter, down from $157,000, while sales fell to $4.5 ...
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CVI gets better margins, but market shares fall
For once, CooperVision is growing more slowly than the market. While global sales of soft contact lenses rose by 5 percent in constant currencies in the first three months of 2011, according to the Contact Lens Institute, those of CVI increased by only 4 percent in its second quarter, ended ...
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Drivers take widely different routes to get a license in Europe
Three European eyewear industry associations have put out a document recommending that the European Commission should harmonize the highly diverging visual screening standards for safe driving existing in the European Union by encouraging member states to adopt the criteria used by the best performing countries.The European Commission had set a ...
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Hal’s stores earn less
The optical retail operations of Hal Holding saw their revenues increase by 6.6 percent to €557 million in the first quarter of 2010. However, excluding the effect of new acquisitions and changes in currency exchange rates, they rose by 2.9 percent, and they actually suffered a 0.5 percent sales decline ...
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Possible turnaround in European sunglass sales
The European sunglass market may be on its way to recording an increase of more than 10 percent this year across all channels of distribution, according to executives participating in the annual convention of the European Sunglass Association in Pisa a few days ago, in contrast with the decline that ...
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ASPs go up in Germany
An increase in the average selling prices of the spectacles they sold allowed German opticians to record a 2.8 percent increase in their overall revenues in 2010, breaking the €4 billion threshold and reaching an estimated level of €4.01 billion, according to their national federation, ZVA.Instead, the number of spectacles ...
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Big slump and concentration in Hungary
Participants in the Optika Hungary show last month said they were trying to find a way out of a big slump in the market through more specialized knowledge and better qualification of the sales personnel, as it's getting hard to sell their products. While there are no official figures, industry ...
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The recession affected the Czech market, too
While sales of sunglasses are declining or stagnating in the Czech Republic, more and more people are wearing contact lenses in the country, according to Jirí Los, managing director of the country's biggest eyewear retailer, Fokus Optik. Contact lenses are also considered to be more fashionable, especially among women, who ...
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The U.S. market is improving
The Vision Council in the U.S. has issued its Consumer Barometer, a report on consumer eyewear sales and purchases, for the 12 months ended March 31. It found that that total revenues from retail and eye exams grew by 1.0 percent to $32.18 billion in the country during the 12-month ...
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New head at Carl Zeiss Vision
Raymund Heinen is the new top manager of Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV) since May 16, taking the place of Michael Hoffmann who has left the group by mutual consent after less than two years in the post. Michael Kaschke, president of the whole Carl Zeiss AG group, will participate in ...
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Hoya Vision Care grows by 10% in Europe
The appreciation of the yen, whose value increased by 14 percent against the euro in the past year, had a negative effect on the results of Hoya Corporation, especially in the vision care segment where the company is very international-oriented.However, executives of the Japanese company feel that Hoya is being ...
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Shamir buy an Italian lab to cope with growth
The deal, announced on Oct. 15, 2010, under which Essilor International will buy 50 percent of Shamir Optical Industry has been approved by all relevant authorities in Europe but still has to undergo clearance in Israel and the U.S. The Israeli lens producer remains confident the deal will be completed ...
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Schneider goes new ways
The leading German supplier of free-form glazing machinery and other precision equipment is expected to grow to about €57 million this year from €52 million in 2010. To help sustain it continued growth and to better attract the most capable engineers and technicians, Schneider GmbH & Co. KG is moving ...
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Marcolin’s sales rise by 12.3 percent
Marcolin booked a 12.3 percent increase in first-quarter sales to €64.6 million, driven by growth in fashion and luxury brands and the launch of the new Swarovski line. On a currency-neutral basis, sales were up by 11.4 percent. Turnover in Europe rose by 7.1 percent to €36.7 million driven by ...
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New French online retailer has big ambitions
The new group, called Sensee, is aiming to be the French leader in online sales of eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses through major investments, strong management know-how and a declared program to cut in half the French customer's bill for identical optical products.The man behind the new Sensee project, whose ...
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Brulimar forms a joint venture in India
Joint ventures can be a useful business model for entering one of the fast-growing emerging markets around the world.Brulimar Optical Group of the U.K. has formed a joint venture with its Indian distributor, Global Vision, to tap into the demand for branded fashion in India and the Middle East. Under ...
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Orange 21 needs to raise more equity
Orange 21, parent company of Spy Optic and eyewear licensee of O'Neill, has warned investors that it will need to raise more equity in the current quarter, after posting a net loss of $1.3 million in the first one. Sales declined to $6.7 million during the first three months of ...
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Italian firm launches recyclable frames
A company in the Cadore district of Italy, Plastididattica Commerciale, launched a new relatively inexpensive and environment-friendly technology to make 100 percent recyclable plastic frames at the Mido show in Milan last March.The core of the technology is a patented plastic injection method that uses recycled PET (which stands for ...
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Luxottica takes control of Multiopticas
Luxottica will exercise early an option to take over Multiopticas Internacional, in which it has had a 40 percent stake since 2009. The Italian group will buy a 57 percent stake for about €95 million in the South American eyewear company in July. Luxottica had an option to buy 60 ...
