Latest Headlines – Page 179
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Shamir Boosts Eur0pean Operations But It Had A Tough 4th Quarter
Shamir Optical Industry outlined plans this week for a further expansion of its production facilities in Europe, but its latest results came below investors' expectations. In a conference call yesterday releasing its 4th quarter and full-year results for 2005, Shamir said it plans to increase production in Portugal by purchasing ...
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Gatto Astucci Is Up By 8%
Gatto Astucci generated revenues of €32 million in 2005, up 8 percent year on year. Gatto is the world's second largest supplier of eyewear cases, after Fedon, and has subsidiaries worldwide. Gatto Italia ? the parent company, which supplies Italian eyewear producers ? had the strongest growth, between 12 and ...
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Fedon Diversifies Further
Fedon has assigned to two of its top managers the job of marketing a rather innovative line of display equipment for all kinds of stores, called Expoplay, after purchasing the business from Italian interests. In another recent diversification from its core business in eyewear cases, the Italian company has also ...
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Luxottica Finishes The Year Strong
The industry giant reinforced its role as an optical powerhouse in the 4th quarter and in the full 2005 financial year, delivering strong results. Luxottica's operating income shot up by 39.2 percent to €145.5 million in the quarter, contributing to raise net income by 43.2 percent to €85.6 million. The ...
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Safilo Breaks €1 Billion Barrier, Extends Ysl License
The #2 player in the global eyewear frame industry saw growth in every market last year, led by the Far East, and its sunglasses segment began to account for the largest portion of its sales with a 51.5 percent share in the total turnover, followed by prescription frames with 41.2 ...
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Essilor Launches New Progressive Technology
Essilor has launched worldwide a new progressive geometry based on a proprietary W.A.V.E. (Wavefront Advanced Vision Enhancement) technology, starting with France, Spain, Germany and North America. The launch is being accompanied by a heavy marketing campaign, described as the largest one in the company's history. The technology, which the company ...
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New Acquisitions Help Essilor To Achieve 10% Growth
In an interesting new diversification, Essilor has acquired a 25 percent stake in Ayudas para la Vision Subnormal (AVS), a Spanish vision rehabilitation center for people suffering from age-related macular degeneration, with an option on a higher share. Company executives indicate that this investment is a way of testing the ...
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Hoya Grows Strongly In Europe
Confirming a newspaper report, Hoya Vision Care says its European sales grew by 13.4 percent in the nine months ended Dec. 31 to represent 37 percent of this division of Hoya Corp., which has set out the goal of doubling its sales in the region under the management of Gerald ...
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Atol Reaches 10% Market Share In France, Goes For 15%
The opticians affiliated with Atol, the third-largest buying group in France, raised their sales by 7 percent on a same-store basis in 2005, against a growth of about 2 percent for the overall French eyewear market. The feat was partially attributed to the group's aggressive marketing campaign. Atol's advertising expenditures ...
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British Buying Group Appoints A Development Manager
Philip Mullins recently joined National Eyecare Group, the UK's largest purchasing organization for independent opticians, in the new role of business development manager. The goal is to develop new programs and services for the group's 900-odd members, which have more than 1,100 stores, representing about 10 percent of the highly ...
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Salmoiraghi Improves Further
Salmoraghi & Viganò, Italy's leading optical retail chain, further improved its results during the 1st quarter ended Dec. 31, posting a 20 percent increase in gross profit, while sales increased by 4.4 percent on a same-store basis and by 12.2 percent in absolute terms. It now has a total of ...
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French Tax Authorities Go After Afflelou, Margins Improve
Alain Afflelou is under investigation by the French tax authorities, which are claiming payment of some €34 million in back taxes related to the results of an international trading company of the country's largest franchising group in the sector, which is registered in Luxembourg. Like some other purchasing organizations in ...
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Oakley Hires Luxottica Executive To Run European Operations
Oakley has named Giuseppe Servidori as vice president and managing director of Oakley Europe, the U.S. company's French-based subsidiary that handles France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Benelux and Scandinavian countries (Oakley Europe's territory doesn't include Germany or the UK, which have their own subsidiaries). The nomination reflects Oakley's intention of ...
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The Destiny Of Moulin's Italian Brands And Operations Will Be Sealed Soon
A court in Venice is set to rule on Feb. 9 whether Metzler International Italia should be sold or liquidated. The company, which is a subsidiary of the bankrupt Moulin Global Eyecare Group, has requested protection from its creditors, asking for a partial settlement with them of its debts, which ...
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Rem's New Luxury Division Launches Varvatos And Herrera Lines
REM Eyewear, the U.S.-based licensee of Converse and other brands, has set a new independent fashion division, called Base Curve, which is coming to the market with two lines sunglasses and prescription frames bearing the names of two well-known fashion designers - Carolina Herrera for women's styles and John Varvatos ...
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The Business Mood Improves In Germany And In France
Spectaris, the German eyewear industry association, is projecting higher growth rates for German eyewear consumption in 2006 after a relatively good year. It expects its members to record a 6 percent increase in its turnover this year to a projected €3.46 billion level, with growth of 9 percent domestically and ...
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Permira Makes Another Optical-related Acquisition
Permira is the European-based private equity firm that has gradually bought an 85 percent stake in Rodenstock. The same fund has now agreed to acquire Aearo Technologies, a U.S. company based in Indianapolis that designs and produces personal protective products and energy-absorbing composites. Aearo's holdings include a prescription safety eyewear ...
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More State Support For The Made In Italy Label
The Italian government is going to help small and medium-sized companies in the eyewear sector both through specific funding for promotional initiatives in international markets, and through new tax regulations for the country's system of specialized industrial districts. On the promotion side, the government will continue to provide half ...
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Boots plc says its Boots Opticians chain recorded a sales...
Boots plc says its Boots Opticians chain recorded a sales decline of 1 percent during the fiscal 3rd quarter ended Dec. 31, but while the underlying market conditions in the UK remain difficult, the management is confident that recent structural reorganization measures and increased marketing will have a positive effect ...
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Jeffrey A. Cole, former chairman, chief executive and shareholder of...
Jeffrey A. Cole, former chairman, chief executive and shareholder of Cole National, has been appointed as a member of Refac's board of directors and as an initial member of its newly established executive committee. Refac, a licensing company based in New Jersey, has been working with Cole's consulting firm, Cole ...
