Luxottica continues to achieve improving results
In the third quarter 2010, Luxottica continued to achieve solid growth and report excellent results thanks to the intense work done by both Divisions, the strength of its brands and the success of its commercial policies in all of the major geographic areas in which the Group operates. Net profit for the quarter exceeded 100 million euro and turnover came to nearly 1.5 billion euro.
"We continued to achieve strong results in the third quarter," commented Andrea Guerra, Luxottica's Chief Executive Officer. "Everyone at our company was able to react with determination and seize the best that this new world has to offer us. These results can be summarized as a solid increase in mature markets - in Europe turnover grew by 12.7% and in North America turnover in dollars increased by 8.5% - and strong growth in all of the major emerging countries, where our sales rose by 26.2%.
The 'sunny' season was positive throughout the world and Sunglass Hut, our retail chain specialized in this segment, showed excellent performances both in the United States, with sales grown by 12.5% on a like-for-like basis, and at the international level.
It is important to emphasize the new trend in the premium and luxury segment of our brand portfolio: for the past two quarters, day after day, we have been seeing an increasing number of consumers who are interest again in products belonging to this segment.
In addition, I am particularly satisfied with our ability to generate cash - over 250 million euro during the third quarter - bearing witness to the validity of our business model and the daily focus on working capital management.
The results achieved so far allow us to take an optimistic view of the end of a year that, if we continue to work with the determination and passion we have shown in recent months, could see us reach the milestone of a net profit of 400 million euro."
During the third quarter, Luxottica succeeded in obtaining highly positive performances in most of the geographical regions in which it operates. These results were driven in a decisive way by the Wholesale Division, which was able to achieve sustained growth both in more mature markets such as the United States and Europe and in emerging countries, reporting a turnover increase of more than 20% for the fourth consecutive quarter, with peaks of 40% in India and Korea.
"We now have a strong presence in areas previously defined as emerging that now show rapid growth - areas in which we will continue to expand," Andrea Guerra explained to Il Sole 24Ore, "yet we are highly interested in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, but also Latin American countries such as Chile and Peru."
Highly positive results were also achieved both by LensCrafters, which has returned to the role of point of reference for the North American retail sector, and by Sunglass Hut, which now more than ever is the world's top chain of shops specialized in the 'sun' segment.
