Latest Headlines – Page 57
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ArticleMido postponed to June 5-7, 2021
The Milan-based eyewear trade show Mido has been postponed to June 5-7, 2021, from its initial dates of Feb. 6-8, as the number of Covid-19 cases picks up in many regions of the world with the return of cold weather to the northern hemisphere. Mido said that the decision is ...
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ArticleItalia Independent opens a new showroom in Milan
Italia Independent opened a new showroom in Milan, in via Fiori Chiari, in the heart of the bohemian Brera district. The location is also the company’s sole flagship worldwide after the company underwent a restructuring that led to the closure of all stores managed directly or franchised. It also replaces ...
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ArticleVam Investments buys 80% of Demenego
The Milan-based private equity Vam Investments has bought an 80 percent stake in Demenego, an Italian eyewear producer which also manages 16 points of sale. The De Menego family will retain a 20 percent interest in the company, which posted sales of €23 million in 2019 and an Ebitda of ...
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ArticleLuxottica shares Covid-19 screening program with Versace
Luxottica, the Italian frame making unit of the EssilorLuxottica group, has decided to share with Versace its Covid-19 prevention, detection and research program currently being used in Italy. Luxottica has held the eyewear license of the Italian fashion house for the past 17 years. Luxottica developed the prevention and screening ...
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ArticleEyewear market seen normalizing driven by prescription frames
The eyewear industry started picking up in June after the easing of Covid-19 related lockdown measures in some key markets. It is expected to gradually return to past levels, underpinned by pent-up demand for ophthalmic eyewear. A phenomenon, that has prompted manufacturers to focus on prescription frames.
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ArticleAlibaba in partnership with the duty free retailer Dufry in omnichannel drive
The Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba has entered into a partnership with the Swiss duty free retailer Dufry that will further integrate online and offline shopping. The parties will form a strategic joint venture in China, and Alibaba will become a minority shareholder in Dufry.
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Silmo Paris announces its Silmo d’Or awards online
In spite of the cancellation of this year’s edition of the show, the organizers of Silmo Paris have decided to proceed with some parts of their usual program, including the annual distribution of the Silmo d’Or awards. However, instead of the usual festive event, the Silmo d’Or laureates were announced ...
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ArticleMarc Simoncini, Alain Afflelou most admired French businessmen
Marc Simoncini and Alain Afflelou were elected as the most admired French businessmen in a poll organized by the magazine, Capital. Simoncini, who topped the ranking, is the founder of the dating website Meetic and until recently involved in the eyewear business. He entered the eyewear business in 2011 with ...
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Safilo Q3 sales better than expected
Safilo estimates that in the third quarter its net sales grew by a mid-single-digit rate at constant exchange rates compared with the same quarter of 2019. It also expects to return to a profit at adjusted Ebitda level. Previously, the company had forecast a moderate decline in sales for the ...
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ArticleFielmann raises FY guidance on better-than-expected Q3 results
Fielmann posted “considerably” better-than-expected third-quarter results and has lifted its full-year guidance. According to preliminary estimates, consolidated sales were about €420 million compared with €400.0 million a year earlier and pre-tax profit is around €80 million against €78.5 million in the third quarter of 2019. The German eyewear retailer pointed ...
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ArticleStrong expansion for the Hallmann chain with MPG’s help
The Austrian-based Michael Pachleitner Group (MPG) reported on a strong expansion of the network of Optik Hallmann stores since it acquired a minority stake of 19 percent in the German chain in 2015, supplying it with German-made lenses. From only 40 stores at the time of the acquisition, it has ...
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ArticleAnt Group debuts cross-border trade platform
Chinese fintech company Ant Group, part of e-commerce giant Alibaba, launched an international trade and financial service platform powered by its blockchain-based technology solution AntChain to facilitate the cross-border sale of products and services by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to reduce costs for financial institutions serving these companies. ...
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ArticleKlarna grows in the pandemic
One clear sign of the boom in the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model is the latest fundraising round of Klarna, which saw the Swedish online payments group set a new record for the valuation of a European private fintech company at $10.65 billion, nearly double the $5.5 billion valuation ...
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ArticleKKR buys 1-800 Contacts
The investment firm KKR has agreed to buy 1-800 Contacts, the American online retailer of contact lenses, from AEA Investors, which acquired the company in January 2016. No financial details were disclosed but the news agency Reuters cited an unnamed source indicating that the deal was worth more than $3 ...
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ArticleInspecs posts H1 loss but sees better second half
Inspecs swung to an interim loss in its first results as a public company, but forecast a better second half despite the impact of Covid-19. The British company, which joined the London Alternative Investment Market in February, reported a pretax loss of $8.3 million in the first six months of ...
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ArticleFrench optical expenses up 5.6% in 2019
In its annual report published last week, the French ministry of health calculated that the overall health expenses in the country reached a total of €208 billion last year, an increase of 2.1 percent from 2018. The ministry also announced that the average “reste à charge” - the share of ...
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ArticleU.S. delays TikTok ban to Sept. 27 as Trump gives blessing to deal with Oracle, Walmart
The U.S. Department of Commerce said that it has delayed until Sept. 27 the prohibition of the Chinese mobile application TikTok. The department had previously announced that the ban would start today. The decision comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had given his “blessing” to a proposed deal ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica, Facebook plan to launch Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021
EssilorLuxottica and Facebook plan to launch a pair of Ray-Ban branded smart glasses in 2021. The two companies have entered a multiyear collaboration to develop the next generation of smart glasses. The announcement was made by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of the online social media group, during ...
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ArticleSafilo secures €108.0 million government-backed financing
Safilo signed of a new term loan facility totaling €108.0 million which provides it with additional liquidity to finance its working capital and investment needs for activities located in Italy. The financing is guaranteed at 90 percent by the Italian export credit agency Sace. On April 8, the Italian government ...
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ArticleMarcolin signs on Max Mara
Unsurprisingly, Marcolin has signed a licensing agreement for the design, production and worldwide distribution of Max Mara sunglasses and eyeglasses. The partnership with the Italian fashion house has a five-year duration starting from Nov. 1, and enlarges Marcolin’s product offer for the womenswear market. It follows last year’s license agreements ...
