Latest Headlines – Page 217
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Valberra Is In Liquidation
Valberra, a relatively well-known medium-sized manufacturer of eyewear frame from Italy's Belluno region, went into liquidation on Aug. 24. Production came to a halt on Oct. 3, and the workforce of just under 100 people was laid off. The firm's fate now lies in the hands of the liquidator, Bruno ...
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Italy's Contract Manufacturers Did Better Than Expected At Silmo
Seven out of ten medium-sized Italian contract manufacturers didn't meet their usual clients from the USA and the Middle East at the Silmo fair that took place in Paris a few days ago. The meetings had been cancelled, but almost all the producers had already made arrangements to see them ...
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U.S. Terrorist Attacks Darken Somewhat The Market Outlook
The eyewear industry is recovering slowly from the shocking terrorist attacks on the symbols of American financial and military power of last Sept. 11, but there is still no accurate reading of their short-term and long-term impact on consumption patterns in our sector. The resulting wait-and-see attitude, compounded by the ...
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The American Tragedy Impacted Also Grandvision
The European market is suffering also from the American tragedy. GrandVision says it experienced sharp sales declines at all its stores throughout Europe, except in Luxembourg, in the first few days that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in America. Most affected were the big GrandOptical stores in Paris, such ...
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Lantis, Marcolin And Viva Take Over Some Licenses From Marine Optical, Which Is Being Liquidated
Marine Optical's only major eyewear license that is still up for sale is the Liz Claiborne brand, which is being covered by different firms. Lantis has taken over the Jordasch license, Marcolin has taken over the Cover Girl line, and Viva International has signed a letter of intent to acquire ...
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Marcolin's Revenues Make A Big Jump, But The Profit Margin Is Slightly Down
Marcolin Group is forecasting a 33.8 percent increase in turnover for this year to 160 million euros, thanks in part to new licenses and to last February's acquisition of Creative Optics, the American wholesaler, for $13 million. Earnings may not follow the same curve, at least for this year, judging ...
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Frames Fare Worse Than Lenses On The Stockmarket
A comparison between yesterday's closing stockmarket quotations of some major players in the eyewear market with those on the eve of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the USA indicates that investors have been generally more pessimistic about the future profitability of manufacturers of eyeglass frames than that of the ...
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De Rigo Doubles Its Net Earnings, Adds Marc Jacobs Line
De Rigo's good relations with LVMH have been reinforced by the finalization of an agreement to manufacture and distribute a new collection of eyewear and sunglasses that will come out in 2002 under the name of Marc Jacobs, the American designer of Louis Vuitton, who also has a fashionable apparel ...
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Safilo's Net Grows By More Than 50%, But The Second Half Looks Iffy
Safilo's management is confident of obtaining better results in the current fiscal year than it did in the year 2000, when it reached a net profit of almost 50 million euros on sales of e685.5 million. However, order volumes are shrinking due to the economic crisis in the USA, which ...
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Oakley Buys A Sunglass Retail And Forges Stronger Links With Venator
Oakley has announced several strategic initiatives in the past few weeks that testify to its desire to accelerate the process of diversifying its retail distribution channels, compensating for the termination of its long-standing relationship with Sunglass Hut. Other programs will be announced shortly. Following in some ways the vertical ...
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Signature Is Turning Around
Signature Eyewear says it is negotiating with two potential new bank lenders for a refinancing package that would involve a new credit facility of about $13 million, putting an end to its financial problems. The US firm had previously obtained a postponement of its current loan payments until Oct. 31. ...
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Essilor Has Stable Earnings
The operating margin of Essilor International improved to 14.8 percent in the 1st half ended June 30 from 14 percent in the same period a year ago, thanks to a marked increase in the profitability of its US laboratories, to a better product mix and to positive results for the ...
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Bbgr Launches New Progressive Lenses
BBGR, a fully owned subsidiary of Essilor International in France, is launching Evolis, a new line of progressive lenses that takes into account certain basic individual characteristics. Without going as far as the custom-made approach of Rodenstock or Zeiss, Evolis introduces new specific progression lengths and profiles and optimized zones ...
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Bausch & Lomb Looks For New Ceo, Creates New Functions
William M. Carpenter resigned as chief executive officer of Bausch & Lomb at the beginning of September, citing personal reasons, shortly after the company's board of directors took the chairmanship away from him and gave it back to William H. Waltrip, who had held it between 1996 and 1997. Waltrip ...
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Coopervision Continues To Score Well
Continued strong performance in Europe and Japan are expected to contribute to a sales increase of between 15 and 18 percent for CooperVision's core contact lens business this year, according to its parent firm, The Cooper Companies. Successful new product introductions in specialty lenses, such as its new Expressions line ...
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Luxottica And Oakley Are At War
Oakley has sought over the past few years to diminish its dependence on Sunglass Hut, which still accounted for 19 percent of its own sales in the 12 months ended June 30, down from a peak of 31 percent in 1996, but efforts to establish a new relationship following Sunglass ...
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Luxottica's Retail Margins Improve, But Debt Equals First-half Revenues
Turnover and profit both shot up further for the Italian group after its acquisition of Sunglass Hut, which was consolidated into its accounts as of Apr. 1. Total first-half revenues show a 24.9 percent increase to 1,570.6 million euros, while operating and net income both rose by 28.4 percent to ...
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De Rigo Performs Better At Wholesale
Now into its second full year of operations, the alliance with Prada is starting to make a significant contribution to De Rigo's results. Prada eyewear, distributed by EID, the joint venture between the two Italian firms, has proved a great success, particularly in the USA. EID's sales were up by ...
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Grandvision Improves Margins Sharply
The European retail group appears to be in line with its goal to raise the operating margin (EBIT) of its optical stores to 6 percent of sales this year and to 9.5-10 percent in 2003 from 3.8 percent in 2000. Sales should grow by 13 percent this year, despite a ...
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Fielmann Expects Double-digit Gains
The large German optical retail chain expects a 10 percent sales increase to about 770 million euros for the year, but while July and August were relatively good, the final score will largely depend on the critical 4th quarter. The group's net income is still expected to grow at a ...
