All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 25 No. 9+10
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PDF NewsletterEyewear Intelligence: Vol 25 - No 9+10
Fielmann banks on US business and vision care services for mid-term growth | Fielmann sales up double digits in Q1 as US business integration offset European slowdown | US sun business sole exception to EssilorLuxottica’s smooth sailing in Q1 | Kering Eyewear stands out with 8% Q1 revenue hike as group topline slips | US startup picks eyewear market as launch pad for infinitely recyclable plastic material | Revenues up 5% at Optic 2000 Group | Inspecs posts flattish 2023 sales after Q4 drop, but profit ratios improved | New owner for Nexeye retail group | Hinge specialist OBE Präzision adds Vietnam to industrial base, invests in smart eyewear and 3D printing | Disposable daily CLs momentum slowed down in 2023 in Europe, survey shows | Assistance, design key drivers in eyewear purchases | Study suggests readers could ease poverty | Slight average eyewear stocks price hike in Q1 reflects extreme ups and downs | Vuzix losses pile up as AR smart glasses take-off takes its time
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News briefs
EssilorLuxottica confirms but downplays interest in Marcolin
Replying to a shareholder’s question during EssilorLuxottica’s general assembly on April 30, 2024, Francesco Milleri, CEO, confirmed that the group was part of the discussions on the take-over of Marcolin. However, he commented that the potential acquisition was not a “strategic part” for EssilorLuxottica, and not only because the group’s ...
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News briefs
Eyewish has a new managing director
Danny van der Voorden has been appointed general manager of Eye Wish Opticiens, the Dutch retail chain of Michael Pachleitner Group (MPG). A seasoned executive, van der Voorden boasts almost 20 years of experience in the optical industry during which he held senior management positions at GrandVision, OptiTrade, Ace & ...
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News briefs
Safilo and David Beckham sign perpetual eyewear license agreement
Safilo Group has announced that is has agreed on a perpetual eyewear license agreement for David Beckham Eyewear with Authentic Brands Group, the brand owner. The new agreement substitutes the current license that was set to expire at the end of 2030. As is customary, the license includes the design, ...
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News briefs
Bausch + Lomb Q1 contact lens sales rise 2%
Bausch + Lomb generated contact lens sales of $230 million in the first quarter of 2024, up by a reported two percent compared to the year earlier and six percent higher at constant currency rates, with growth led by sales of daily silicone hydrogen contact lenses. First-quarter sales for Bausch ...
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ArticleRevenues up 5 % at Optic 2000 Group
Optic 200 Group – which comprises Optic 2000, Lissac, Audio 2000, Gadol and Optic Swiss Services – has posted revenues of €1.292 billion, up 5 percent year-on-year. The group says that its sales growth outstripped that of the combined French markets for optical and hearing aids in 2023 and that ...
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News briefsToku’s eye scan for kidney trouble on regulatory fast track in US
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has qualified for its Breakthrough Device Program an AI suite from Toku Inc. that is designed to detect chronic kidney disease (CKD) from the retinal scans of diabetics. As the FDA explains online, the program is “voluntary” and expedites the “development, assessment, and ...
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ArticleFielmann banks on US business and vision care services for mid-term growth
The final annual results for fiscal 2023 released yesterday by Fielmann Group confirm all preliminary results announced in February, notably the double-digit increase in external sales and consolidated sales versus 2022 and a significant rebound in profitability (see table below). Please refer to our previous report for more details on ...
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ArticleFielmann sales up double digit in Q1 as US business integration offset European slowdown
Along with its complete annual results for fiscal 2023, on which we will report in a separate article, Fielmann Group has announced a 10.8 percent year-on-year increase in Q1 consolidated sales to €529.1 million. Ebitda margin for the quarter remained stable versus Q1 2023, at 21.7 percent. ...
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News briefsA report on contact-lens promotion from the shop
The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) has released a report on contact-lens persuasion that focuses on the influence of optical practices – that is, of optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, technicians, optical consultants and front-line staff. Titled Beyond Vision: Behaviors to Attract New & Returning Contact Lens Wearers, the report is available online. ...
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News briefs
Brillen.de owner announces Q1 results
In what seems to be a premiere, SuperVista, the German group behind the brillen.de and STEINER-Vision retail brands, has announced quarterly financial results. The company said that its revenue reached €37.5 million for the first quarter of 2024, with an Ebitda margin of 14 percent, up by one percentage point ...
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News briefs
JEH acquires factory in Fukui
Fast-growing eyewear group Japan Eyewear Holdings (JEH) has acquired Taihou, an OEM eyewear supplier based in Sabae City, Fukui prefecture, Japan. The company said that the acquisition was aimed at boosting its production capacity. As previously reported, JEH revenue jumped by 26.3 percent year-on-year in 2023 thanks in large parts ...
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ArticleHinge specialist OBE Präzision adds Vietnam to industrial base, invests in smart eyewear and 3D printing
On the heels of the group’s investment in Italy, where it acquired OMM, a supplier of metal components for high-end eyewear manufacturers, we sat down with Erik Schäfer, CEO of OBE Holdings, mother company of hinge specialist OBE Präzision. “As a supplier of key components to the eyewear industry, ...
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ArticleNew owner for Nexeye retail group
Global investment firm KKR will become the new majority shareholder of Nexeye, the Dutch-based retail group operating the Hans Anders, Eyes + More and Direkt Optik chains, acquiring it from 3i, another investment fund that owned the company since 2017. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but it does ...
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News briefs
CooperVision and AOA call for US optometrists to become myopia management advocates
Contact lens maker CooperVision and the American Optometric Association (AOA) have announced a new partnership with the launch of The Myopia Collective, an organization that aims “to rally the optometry profession and its allies to elevate the standard of care for children with myopia, shifting focus from mere correction to ...
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ArticleKering Eyewear stands out with 8% Q1 revenue hike as group topline slips
As in the last quarter of 2023, Kering Eyewear was the only business unit of French luxury group Kering that reported a revenue increase in Q1 2024 as reported sales of optical frames and sunglasses rose by 7 percent year-on-year to €463 million. On a comparable currency basis, Kering ...
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News briefsHoya communicates new IT incident update
In a new information update published earlier today on the IT incident that has been affecting the group’s operations since March 30, Hoya Corporation announced that, as of April 23, most of its business divisions had restored their production and ordering systems. However, the group added that some units were ...
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News briefs
Bausch + Lomb’s US recycling programs gather momentum
Bausch + Lomb has annonced that it has collected 84 million units of contact lenses, lens care and eye care materials in the US through its ONE by ONE and Biotrue recycling programs since they were launched in 2016 and 2021, respectively. This corresponds to approximately 231 tons of waste ...
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News briefs
Warby Parker and Eastman recycled 12 tons of demo lenses in 2023
US optical retailer Warby Parker has announced in its Impact Report 2023 that over 12 tons of demo lenses from its Sloatsburg and Las Vegas labs were collected and recycled through its partnership with Eastman Chemical, marking a significant increase from 2022 (9 tons). In other highlights of its sustainability ...
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ArticleUS sun business sole exception to EssilorLuxottica’s smooth sailing in Q1
EssilorLuxottica remained on a smooth sailing trajectory in the start of 2024 as the group reported a 3.0 percent year-on-year increase in Q1 revenue to €6,335 million. At constant rates, sales progressed by 5.5 percent versus 2022, decelerating slightly from Q4 2023 (+7.1 percent) but remaining in line with the ...
