Latest Headlines – Page 202
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Optic 2000 And Atol Grow Rapidly As Well
The other two major French buying groups performed better than the market last year. Optic 2000 reports sales of e574 million for its affiliated retailers in 2002, up 11 percent from the previous year, generating revenues of e194 million for the cooperative, but the sales increase on a comparable store ...
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Pearle Europe Improves Sales And Operating Earnings
Pearle Europe's revenues increased by 22 percent to e470 million in the 2002 fiscal year, generating an improved operating profit of e64 million. These results, which have been published by its two main shareholders, don't include the sales of Instrumentarium, the international Nordic retail chain acquired last November for e124.9 ...
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Possibly Threatened By Luxottica, De Rigo Continues Its Lackluster Course
A new spate of unconfirmed press rumors indicates that Luxottica may be on the verge of signing an agreement with Prada for the production and distribution of eyewear under its various brands, replacing Eyewear International Distribution (EID), the joint venture that Prada has with De Rigo. Luxottica is already helping ...
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Safilo Launches A High-yield Bond
Safilo has launched a generous 10-year bond through a private placement to help finance the debt restructuring program decided by the Tabacchi family at the end of last year, after taking the company private. The bond is worth a total of e300 million and carries a yield of 9.6 percent ...
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Alain Mikli Boosts Its Management To Keep Up With Its Strong Growth
The brilliant and super-busy French eyewear designer has hired several top-notch professionals over the past few months to help sustain the continued expansion of his business and to improve the bottom line, a bit like Oliver Peoples has already done in the USA (story on this will follow shortly). ...
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Essilor Cannot Avoid A Hostile Bid
Essilor International, by far the biggest factor in the optical lens market, should have nothing to fear from a hostile bid on the part of a strategic investor. The only one who may have the financial muscle to attempt such a coup, Leonardo Del Vecchio of Luxottica, has already stated ...
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Sola Reaches A 14.8% Operating Margin
SOLA International raised its sales by 12.2 percent in North America during the 4th quarter of its fiscal year, which ended on March 31, doing much better than Essilor International in a particularly soft market, but the group's management is not sure that it will be able to keep up ...
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The Parent Of Vision-ease Has Only A Momentary Profit
After a major restructuring process, BMC Industries' optical products group, represented essentially by Vision-Ease, reported an honorable 13.7 percent operating margin for the 1st quarter ended March 31, which compares to a negative margin of 7.5 percent in the same period one year ago, and the company sees potential for ...
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Optima Introduces Its Polycarbonate Lenses In Europe
Asahi-Lite and its US affiliate, Optima, are negotiating with the Czech government to set up a factory there that will possibly service all of Europe with the latest version of Optima's Resolution, a line of polycarbonate lenses whose special manufacturing process eliminates the problem of birefringence typical of other polycarbonate ...
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Tokai Raises Its European Presence, Licenses Galileo For Italy
Galileo has been granted the exclusive Italian license for a new line of customized free-form back-surface progressive lenses produced by Tokai, marketing it under the Identica brand name. The Italian company, recently acquired by Ital-Lenti, has committed itself to purchase 170,000 semi-finished lenses per year from the Japanese company, which ...
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Intercast Works With Zeiss On Sun Lenses
Carl Zeiss and Intercast Europe have signed an agreement for the production and distribution of quality lenses for sun eyewear that will ensure maximum synergies between the German and Italian firms. Under the terms of the agreement, Intercast will sell Zeiss lenses to the top-end sunglass manufacturers, while Zeiss will ...
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Fedon Recovers And Acquires The Other Half Of Its Us Subsidiary
The first quarter of 2003 marked a turnaround for Fedon after the 3.87 percent sales decline suffered in 2002. Its consolidated turnover rose in the latest period by 24.16 percent to e16.1 million compared with the first quarter of last year, confirming the improved order backlog of December 2002. However, ...
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Europe Drives Ocular Sciences' Growth
Ocular Sciences' European sales grew by 36 percent in the 1st quarter in dollar terms, thanks in part to a 17 percent appreciation of the euro during the period, and they are bound to increase further following the signing of a multi-year pan-European supply agreement with Pearle Europe and another ...
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Fielmann Feels He Can Export His Business Model To The Uk And Other Markets
Whatever the German government decides to do to reduce its vision care subsidies to help balance the federal budget, it should play into Fielmann's favor, leading more German citizens to look for the group's more affordable offerings. With other European governments looking at reducing their health care expenses in view ...
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Sars Halves The Chinese Presence At Mido
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has practically halved the presence of exhibitors from China and other risk areas in the Far East at the MIDO fair starting in Milan this Friday. Two Canadian suppliers have cancelled their stands, mainly because they expect fewer visitors at the fair from China, which ...
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Luxottica Makes A Friendly Bid For Opsm
The takeover offer, which we had predicted, values the leading optical retail group in the Asia/Pacific region at Aus$550 million (e309m-$340m), with a 21.9 percent premium over OPSM Group's closing price on the Sydney stock exchange of A$3.20 on Apr. 24, the last day that its shares traded prior to ...
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Sales And Profits Go Down For Luxottica
The divorce from Giorgio Armani, the strengthening of the euro against the dollar and the difficult international situation have all created an explosive mix that even the giant of the eyewear industry has been unable to avoid. In the 1st quarter of 2003 Luxottica posted its first drop in sales ...
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Fielmann, Which Is Considering Some Foreign Acquisitions, Defies The Market With New Record Quarterly Results
The giant German optical retailer, which achieved positive net interest income for the first time in its history in the 1st quarter of this year, would not mind making a friendly takeover bid for GrandVision, partly in view of its relatively low stock market price, although the management if the ...
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Moulin Negotiates New Licenses, And Metzler Makes Profits Again In Italy
Metzler International has not renewed two licenses in its portfolio, Vivian Westwood and Les Copains (see also article on Allison further down), which expired at the end of the 1st quarter. However, its Hong Kong-based parent company, Moulin International, is negotiating now with a couple of other internationally renowned brands, ...
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Weak U.S. Sales Stifle Essilor's Growth
Markedly lower foot traffic in American optical stores hurt Essilor International badly in the 1st quarter. The group's revenues fell by 8.8 percent to e517.8 million, as compared to the same period a year ago, due in part to the devaluation of the dollar and the yen. In local currencies ...
