Latest Headlines – Page 76
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Double-digit growth for J&J’s Vision Care
Johnson & Johnson's Vision Care division saw revenues jump by 11.2 percent to $1,173 million in the second quarter. The management said the division delivered strong results in both the contact lens and surgical businesses across key geographies, with operational growth of 9.6 percent.Sales of contact lenses rose by 11.1 ...
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New lens factory pledged for St. Petersburg
Unnamed Japanese investors plan to open a new lens manufacturing factory in St. Petersburg, in a joint venture with local companies, according to a Russian news agency, SPB Vedomosti, which cites sources in the Russian eyewear industry.The investment in the equipment required for the project is estimated at €10 million. ...
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Silmo Paris unveils some of the next show’s features
The organizers of Silmo Paris announced that the number of exhibitors for the next edition of the show will exceed 1,000 as 108 new companies have confirmed their participation so far, including more than twenty start-ups. De Rigo, the Italian eyewear group, and Menicon, the Japanese contact lens company are ...
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The eyewear industry shows some optimism for the future
A new type of survey conducted in behalf of the Mido trade show in Milan indicates that the players in the eyewear industry are more optimistic about the future of the sector for the next three years as compared to the current situation.Called Mido Outlook, the research was carried out ...
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Safilo posts 6.9% higher sales in Q1
Safilo posted an encouraging 6.9 percent sales increase to €250.9 million in the first quarter of 2018, beating market expectations by nearly €12 million, and its profitability improved. At constant currency rates, sales were up by 15.4 percent and the increase reached 16.9 percent when excluding the Gucci business.The growth ...
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Safilo’s credit facility is extended
Safilo has pushed back the expiry date of its €150 million revolving credit facility to Nov. 30 from July 29. The company said that it had “requested and obtained” the extension from its lenders as part of ongoing refinancing talks.The renewal of the credit facility is crucial to shore up ...
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Earnings double at the former Allison
AVM 1959, or Allison Volta Mantovana, closed 2017 with a clear improvement in profits. According to the management, its Ebitda doubled to 10 percent of turnover, and the forecasts for 2018 calls for further growth. Sales grew by 2 percent to around €20 million.The company's return to profitability was one ...
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New healthcare plan to shake down French optical market?
After a first wave of reforms in 2015 that limited the reimbursement of ophthalmic products in France to once every other year, instead of once a year, which sent the national optical market down (see other article in this issue), a new set of far-reaching regulatory changes is scheduled to ...
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The chains overperform in a declining French optical market
Ahead of the new healthcare reform that has just been announced by President Emmanuel Macron (see other article in this issue), the French optical market dropped significantly last year after several years of steady growth, according to several sources. As we already reported (Eyewear Intelligence Vol. 19 - 4+5), GfK ...
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A facelift for Grand Optical’s flagship store
After a four-month-long facelift, Grand Optical, the premium retail banner of the GrandVision group, has unveiled a new store layout and a new shopping experience for its 800-square-meter flagship store on Paris' Avenue des Champs-Elysées, which is normally visited by 2,000 people per day, including many foreign tourists.They are attracted ...
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The first eyewear megastore opens in Russia
Happy Look, one of the top three eyewear retailers in Russia, has opened a store in a new format, which the company describes as “the megastore.” Occupying an area of 875 square meters, the new store opened a few weeks ago in St. Petersburg, after investments of nearly €200,000, about ...
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A major Russian drugstore chain opens optical stores
The second-biggest chain of pharmacies in Russia, Rodnik Zdorovia, has launched a new retail chain of free-standing eyewear stores, targeting the low-priced segment of the market. Called OptikGuru and run by Mikhail Sereda, the new chain has already opened five optical retail stores and there are plans for 15 others ...
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Mixed results for Hoya’s eyeglass lenses
Hoya Corp. reported a 12 percent increase in its sales of eyeglass lenses for the fourth quarter of its financial year, ended on March 31, but they grew by 2 percent on a comparable basis. Sales of these products saw declines of around 2 percent in both Japan and Europe. ...
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Zeiss reports some growth in ophthalmic lenses
Without breaking down the figure by segments, the Carl Zeiss group has reported a decline of 3 percent to €538 million for its Vision Care and Consumer Products division during the first half of its financial year, which ended on March 31. In terms of local currencies, sales increased by ...
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Valeant becomes Bausch Health Companies
Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the Canadian-based company that took over Bausch + Lomb five years ago with a total investment of $8.3 billion, will change its name next month to Bausch Health Companies, with a new corporate brand identity, new imagery, a new website and a new stock market ticker, BHC.The move ...
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The European contact lens market grew again last year
In 2017, sales of soft contact lenses to eye-care professionals in Europe increased by 5.7 percent to €1,789 million, according to an annual study by the European Federation of National Associations and International Companies of Contact Lens and Lens Care Manufacturers (Euromcontact). The organization, which has been running a syndicated ...
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Confindustria Moda inaugurates new offices
Confindustria Moda, the umbrella organization of the Italian fashion industry, inaugurated on May 15 its new 3,800 square-meter offices, hosting more than 100 employees, at Via Riva Villasanta 3 in Milan. The eyewear industry is regarded in Italy as being part of this sector.Confindustria Moda comprises Sistema Moda Italia (SMI), ...
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Ruedi Suter sues the U.S. over his unjust incarceration
Ruedi Suter, a well-known veteran of our industry, has lodged a suit against the U.S. government for violation of his human rights and the destruction of his reputation, claiming that he was illegally held in prison for more than 11 months.The Swiss executive, best known for building up the former ...
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The son joins the father at Fielmann’s helm
Implementing a joint management structure, Fielmann's supervisory board unanimously approved on April 12 the appointment of Marc Fielmann as joint chief executive of Germany's premier optical retailing group alongside his father Günther Fielmann. The new structure is described as a logical step in the long-term succession of Günther Fielmann, founder ...
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GrandVision faces currency headwinds
The strengthening of the euro against major currencies led to a negative impact of 2.9 percentage points, or €24 million, on GrandVision's revenue growth in the first quarter. This mainly impacted the international optical group's operations in the Americas and Asia. As a result, GrandVision's sales rose by 8.0 percent ...
