Latest Headlines – Page 214
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Seen by Silmo, the traveling eyewear exhibition launched last year...
Seen by Silmo, the traveling eyewear exhibition launched last year by the Silmo international optical trade show, will hit the road again this spring. This year's show will first be held in Toronto on Apr. 13-14 in conjunction with Vision Canada East, then move on to Amsterdam on June 2-3, ...
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Essilor Reaches A 14.9% Operating Margin
The world's largest lens manufacturer raised its operating margin to an exceptional level of 14.9 percent last year from 13.9 percent in 2000, citing a better product mix and productivity gains across the whole supply chain, which will continue in 2002. Higher sales of higher value-added products and the improved ...
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Luxottica Reaches A 15.2% Margin In Us Retailing
The acquisition of Sunglass Hut last March has paid off earlier than expected. Financed to the tune of 91.3 million euros from Luxottica's own funds, the takeover caused the overall net debt to increase by e561.7 million to e1,469.9 million in the course of 2001, but the Sunglass Hut and ...
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De Rigo Grows Strongly In Luxury Sector
The group's wholesale and manufacturing division continued to drive sales growth in 2001, posting a 27.1 percent increase to 133.6 million euros. In particular, sales of luxury and designer brands rose by 72.3 percent in value and by 31.6 percent in units. Besides its EID joint venture with Prada, which ...
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The Ysl Licence Has Gone To Safilo, And Sales Are Already Underway
We had already anticipated this momentous deal, which has a duration of 5 years and which had been in the works for quite some time, but it's official now. Yves Saint Laurent's new owner, Gucci Group, probably wanted to wait for its announcement until Jan. 14, in connection with Saint ...
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Grandvision Posts A 10% Sales Increase For The Year
The French-based optical retail group saw its stockmarket value appreciate by more than 15 percent after it reported last Jan. 8 a 10 percent sales increase for the past year to 558 million euros, or 2 percentage points less than previously budgeted, while adding that margins were in line with ...
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Alain Afflelou Gets Ready for the Stock Exchange Alain...
Alain Afflelou Gets Ready for the Stock Exchange Alain Afflelou, the French optical chain, is getting ready for a possible stockmarket introduction through Crédit Lyonnais, but company officials emphasize that a date has not yet been set. The flotation could help the chain to finance the planned development of ...
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Coopervision Buys Biocompatibles
The concentration of the contact lens business is going on unabated, with specialty lens products becoming a nice prey in an otherwise slow-moving market. CooperVision, one of the strongest players in the sector, has now signed a definitive deal to take over the contact lens business of Biocompatibles International for ...
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Allergan Will Split Its Business Into Two Separate Companies
Citing fundamental differences between its two main product lines, the US company announced its decision to form an independent firm, Advanced Medical Optics, to take over by the middle of this year its entire non-pharmaceutical eye care business, consisting of contact lens solutions and other ophthalmic, surgical and contact lens ...
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Johnson & Johnson Has A New Top Management
True to its tradition, the huge American conglomerate is not bringing in any outsiders into the cockpit. Johnson & Johnson's top management will change in April when William C. Weldon succeeds Ralph Larsen upon his retirement as the group's chairman and CEO. James T. Lenehan will become president and vice ...
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BAUSCH & LOMB LAYS OFF 700 MORE PEOPLE AFTER A $8 MILLION LOSS IN THE 4th QUARTER
Reflecting the general slowdown of the US economy, the company's revenues in the last quarter of 2001 were off 3 percent to $452 million, although the decline was limited to 1 percent at local currency rates. Sales of contact lenses fell by 4 percent, lens care products sales decreased 16 ...
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Exporters To The Usa Are Required To Register With The Fda
All non-US manufacturers of eyewear and components wishing to sell and distribute their products in the USA will be required to register their name and address with the Food and Drug Administration and choose an ad hoc agent in the USA. The new FDA regulation, which comes to effect on ...
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Exhibitors Take No Sides Yet In The Munich-cologne Sparring Match
The ?duel? between the two German fairs goes on? The Opti München fair in Munich closed to a resounding success on Jan. 13. Only one month later, Optica in Cologne will try hard to re-establish its reputation, with a focus on ?Made in Germany? and a new, more efficient structure. ...
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Kapunkt's Reorganization Is Completed
The world's largest producer of better eyewear cases, Fedon, has now completed the reorganization of Kapunkt, the German firm acquired when the latter was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1999. The year 2001 marked the end of Kapunkt's losses in Germany, following a reduction in the German office's staff ...
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Fielmann is opening its first Dutch store under the Fielmann...
Fielmann is opening its first Dutch store under the Fielmann banner on Feb. 14 in Enschede, near the German border. The future Dutch stores of the German chain will all have the Fielmann sign and follow its low-price philosophy. As it had already done in Switzerland, Fielmann had previously bought ...
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Mark Ashcroft, the 39-year-old Irish executive who has been running...
Mark Ashcroft, the 39-year-old Irish executive who has been running Sola International's European commercial operations since October of 1999, is now moving to California to act as president of the group's less buoyant commercial operations in North and South American. He replaces Brett Olson, who has resigned. Ashcroft, who joined ...
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CIBA Vision is participating in the reorganization of the global...
CIBA Vision is participating in the reorganization of the global contact lens business with the establishment of a new business unit for specialty lenses, where the company is seeking a stronger presence. Tim Barnabe, who has been CIBA Vision's finance controller, is heading up the new BU.
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Vision Expo, to be held in New York on March...
Vision Expo, to be held in New York on March 15-17, 2002, is dedicating a whole day this year (Saturday 16) to an analysis of the eyewear market in the current critical economic situation, with 4 theme-based round table discussions in which experts and executives will participate. The first of ...
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The European Sunglass Association has decided to postpone until next...
The European Sunglass Association has decided to postpone until next year the implementation of a project to organize an annual meeting point and convention for the sunglass industry in Monte Carlo. Extended to buyers and to the whole fashion industry, the new event was going to take place next September. ...
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French Optic 2000 Retail Group Adopts Sap, Eyes Major Future Investments
Celebrating its 1,000th affiliated store in one of Paris' most famous restaurants, the Optic 2000 buying group announced recently the start-up on Jan. 1 of a sophisticated SAP supply chain management system and other interesting projects. The new efficient response program will handle order entry, invoicing, logistics and other functions, ...
