Latest Headlines – Page 178
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Marcolin Plans An Equity Increase After Profits Slump
The transition toward new uncertain targets is proving decidedly difficult for Marcolin, after the drastic blow represented by the loss of the Dolce & Gabbana brands, which represented about one-half the group revenues and which went over to Luxottica. The consequent fall in turnover and the investments necessary to launch ...
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Oakley Buys The Optical Shop Of Aspen
Oakley is acquiring OSA Holding and its retail subsidiary, The Optical Shop of Aspen, which comprises 14 luxury eyewear stores in the USA, describing the takeover as a continuation of a new focus on the more fashion-oriented eyewear market, which began with the acquisition of Oliver Peoples a few weeks ...
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Boots Expands Its Franchising Program
Boots Opticians has decided to roll out its store franchising program throughout the UK, extending it also to opticians who are not currently employed by Boots, following the successful implementation of a pilot project over the last three years. The company is looking at adding franchises in 12 different communities ...
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Essilor's Ebit Margin Grows To A Record
Essilor improved its operating margin last year to a record level of 17.3 percent of sales, as compared to 16.2 percent in 2004, but it's not sure whether this performance will continue in 2005. Net income after minority interest increased by 17.5 percent to €287.1 million, and the company is ...
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Indo Improves Its Results
The Spanish company has reported a net profit of €8,077,000 for 2005, compared with €2,869,000 in the previous year, confirming the improvement of its financial results. Operating income increased by 13.5 percent to €2,824,000 on 13.8 percent higher overall sales of €144.7 million, in spite of a 21 percent raise ...
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Italy's Exports Are Still On A Growth Path, Led By The Usa And By Sunglasses
Americans have started purchasing Italian sunglasses again, contributing to growth of 15.8 percent ? with a 20.7 percent increase for sunglasses - in the first 11 months of 2005 compared with the same period last year. With €446 million worth of sales, the USA accounted for just less than one-third ...
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Factoring For Small Producers In Italy's Belluno District
Under the terms of a new factoring agreement, some 500 artisans and 100 small and medium-sized suppliers to the major eyewear groups in the Italian eyewear manufacturing district of Belluno will be able to sell their accounts receivable to IFIS, the finance and discount institute founded by Sebastien Egon von ...
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Comotec Withdraws Layoff Plan And Seeks To Hire New Skills
Comotec has scrapped the second phase of a plan of employees' layoffs that had been scheduled for this year due to the high demand for its products. In the initial phase of the plan, 29 jobs were cut last year. All the other 70 employees concerned by the plan will ...
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Cvi Has Lower Margins, But New Product Launches Should Help Turn It Around
After a self-described disappointing year in terms of new product introductions, CooperVision's profit margins continued to decline in the 1st quarter ended last Jan. 31, but the management has expressed confidence in the three new products it began rolling out during the quarter and in the future of hydrogel technology. ...
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1-800 Contacts Falls Short On Production
Although its sales went up, 1-800 Contacts was unable to meet U.S. demand for certain prescription contact lenses in the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, and its net results suffered. The company's turnover rose by 12 percent to $238 million in 2005, but it reported a net loss of $2.6 ...
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Satisloh's Margins Decline But Orders Are Up Thanks To Loh
Satisloh saw new orders rise by 129 percent to 221.3 million Swiss francs (€140.6m-$169.1m) in 2005, while its revenues increased by 112 percent to CHF198.5 million (€126.1m-$151.7m), owing largely to Satis Vacuum's acquisition of Loh in October 2004. The operating result (EBIT) rose by only 11 percent to CHF13.2 million ...
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Singulus Makes Its First Sale
Singulus Technologies has sold its first commercial model of its new Opticus automatic lens coating machine, following a successful test with Rupp + Hubrach. The identity of the buyer could not be determined, but it is understood to be a European company. Meanwhile, Klaus Hammen has been appointed ...
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Alain Afflelou Gets A New Investor
A pan-European investment fund, Bridgepoint, is acquiring a 61.1 percent stake in this big French chain of more than 750 stores - mostly franchised - bearing the name of its founder, Alain Afflelou, in a deal that values the company at about €500 million excluding debt. That's just about one ...
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Pearle Europe Acquires Optikk Norge, Raising Its Market Share In Norway
Pearle Europe has signed an agreement for the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares in Optikk Norge, a profitable buying group set up in 1985 whose members trade through over 80 optical retail stores in the medium-high segment of the Norwegian market under the Interoptik banner. Pearle Europe already ...
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Ralph Lauren Switches From Safilo To Luxottica
Luxottica announced last Monday the signature of a 10-year licensing agreement with Polo Ralph Lauren, starting on Jan. 1, 2007. The eyewear giant evidently convinced the American fashion house to stop doing business with Safilo thanks to the distribution power represented by its own international retail network, which is particularly ...
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Oakley Acquires Olivers People, Hires A New European Director
Last month, before reporting some positive financial results, Oakley announced the acquisition of Oliver Peoples, the highly creative luxury sunglass company in Beverly Hills, describing the investment as the first step in a new multi-brand strategy focus on its core business in optics. It is part of a broader new ...
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Oakley Maps Out A New Product Strategy To Ensure Continues Progress
Since his nomination four months ago, Oakley's new chief executive, Scott Olivet, has been leading a ?top-to-bottom? review of the company's strengths and weaknesses in order to develop a new multi-year strategy intended to deliver more consistent profit performance, with more emphasis on cash flow and return on investment. The ...
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Oakley Had Good Results In 2005, But They Have Been Softening Lately
The company's total eyewear sales grew by a record amount in 2005, but they have been softening since then. Still, Oakley is budgeting an overall sales increase of at least 10 percent in 2006 and in each of the next few years, with earnings set to rise at a higher ...
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Orange 21 Dismisses 2005 As A Year Of Transition
The public U.S. company, which markets the Spy line of sports eyewear, has warned investors that its results for the 2005 fiscal year, ended last Dec. 31, will show a loss of roughly $1.2-1.7 million in spite of an increase in revenues of about 16 percent to $39 million. In ...
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Visibilia Is Turning Around
With sales on the rise and orders up by 10 percent, Visibilia's operating margin before amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) should finally be back in the black for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. In the previous 12-month period the Italian group had already succeeded in reducing its negative EBITDA ...
