Afgelopen week heeft EssilorLuxottica voor het eerst gezamenlijke cijfers gepubliceerd. In vergelijking met 2017 daalde de omzet in 2018 met 1,2%. Dat was vooral te wijten aan de wisselkoersen. Bij gelijk gebleven wisselkoersen zou de omzet van het nieuwe concern met 3,2% gestegen zijn. Die stijging kwam voor het overgrote deel voor rekening van Essilor dat het op alle fronten goed deed. De groothandel van Luxottica (de verkoop van brillen aan anderen) deed het minder goed en zou ook bij gelijk gebleven wisselkoersen in de min geëindigd zijn. De winkels deden het met een plus van 3% beter. Ray-Ban blijft bij Luxottica de grote motor. De online verkopen via de eigen webshops plusten met 14% en ook daar is Ray-Ban de aanjager van de groei. Al met al geen fantastisch jaar met effectief 189 miljoen euro minder omzet. Vanaf nu is de ontwikkeling van de samenwerking interessant. Gelet op de begeleidende teksten van de CEO’s Leonardo Del Vecchio en Hubert Sagnières bij de publicatie van de cijfers lijkt Essilor hierbij het voortouw te nemen.
“We are proud to present strong Luxottica and Essilor combined results. The contribution of Luxottica is significant: net sales, profitability and free cash flow all show positive growth, excluding the exchange rate effect. From a qualitative standpoint, its simplicity, entrepreneurial spirit and speed of execution continued to pay off. Today, Luxottica is well organized and energized for its future as part of EssilorLuxottica. We come to the integration process in the best possible way, bringing with us the most beloved brands, excellent operations capabilities and a digitized business inside and out. Our legacy will continue to grow in this way for years to come. Once we are fully integrated with Essilor and our synergies have taken effect, together we will redefine a revolutionary service model for the benefit of wholesale partners and consumers everywhere,” commented Leonardo Del Vecchio, Executive Chairman of EssilorLuxottica.
“Since EssilorLuxottica was formed on October 1, 2018, it has fully embraced its mission to help people see more, be more and live life to its fullest. To reach this powerful goal, the Group can rely on an outstanding performance from Essilor, which delivered strong business growth at all its divisions in 2018 and surpassed its growth targets for the year while continuing to work on numerous innovations that will benefit the entire ophthalmic optics and eyewear industries. These achievements reflect the vibrant culture of entrepreneurship within Essilor and the creativity of its employees, whose interests are fully aligned with those of shareholders thanks to employee share ownership at every level of the company. This powerful value creation model will facilitate the generation of synergies going forward and will be rolled out across the entire EssilorLuxottica Group,” said Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice Chairman of EssilorLuxottica.
