Another year of strong growth for Luxottica
Luxottica Group S.p.A. (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX). Chaired by Leonardo Del Vecchio, the Board of Directors of the Luxottica Group, the world leader for the design, production, distribution and sale of top-range and luxury eyewear, met today in Milan to examine the consolidated billings for the fourth quarter and financial year 2007.
Luxottica Group chief executive Andrea Guerra commented: '2007 was another record for Luxottica, the fourth consecutive year in which the Group's billings have seen two-figure growth at constant exchange rates.
We achieved billings of 5 billion euros, an upturn of 12.6% at constant exchange rates, and they came close to the extraordinary performance levels of 2006, when growth increased by 14% against the previous year.
Andrea Guerra concluded, 'The year that has just ended was of enormous importance for us in terms of growth and investment. Now our vertical integration model is even more efficient, we have increasingly stronger roots in all our markets, our brand portfolio is stronger and more balanced and we are valued by consumers in all our business segments. During the year, we invested over 2 billion dollars in Oakley alone and in a fourth of our commercial chain. We have therefore established very sound bases for further development in the next three-year period.'
Even without Oakley's contribution, in 2007 the wholesale division had a 20% increase in business at constant exchange rates, with billings of around 2 billion euros, confirming the excellent work carried out in recent years on the brand portfolio. Sales to third-party clients (a particularly significant figure for evaluating business trends) grew by 21.7% at constant exchange rates. Overall billings for Ray-Ban had two-figure growth for the fifth year running and the trend for the luxury brands, such as Bulgari, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Versace, was also excellent. Geographically-speaking, Luxottica continued to strengthen throughout the world. Billings from the wholesale business in emerging markets increased by 40%, demonstrating that they are another macro area for business expansion.
Retail results, again without Oakley's contribution, were satisfactory with 5.6% growth at constant exchange rates. Sales (with the same stores, exchange rates and consolidation perimeter) increased by 1.2%, despite the seesawing trend in the North American market, which occasionally behaved emotively because of still unclear signals in the economy's overall scenario. In Luxottica's other markets there were excellent retail performance levels in Australia and China, where the growth trend was stable and high. The development of Sunglass Hut continued in all the relevant countries: with the same perimeter, its growth has been 40% over the past 3 years.
Overall, the business trend in the North American market was positive throughout the year, with a total increase (wholesale and retail) of 6.1% (in US$) compared to the previous year.
2007 was also the year of the acquisition of Oakley, the world's most famous eyewear brand after Ray-Ban. Oakley's contribution to the Group's consolidated results for 2007 refer to the last 6, non-seasonal, weeks of the year. The definition of the 2008-2010 business plan by the integrated Oakley and Luxottica team is proceeding steadily. The plan will be presented to investors and the markets February 7 at Foothill Ranch, California.
The Luxottica Group will publish the consolidated results of the fourth quarter and the whole of financial year 2007, March 13, 2008. Detailed forecasts for financial year 2008 will be announced to the market during Investor Day, February 7.
The Group announced that the payment of dividends for ordinary shares based on the results of financial year 2007 is scheduled for May 2008. Any changes subsequent to this communication will be notified in accordance with applicable regulations.
