First quarter rise reported by Essilor

Essilor International has confirmed a 10% revenue increase for the first quarter of 2017, taking its income to €1,962m.

Sharing year-on-year figures for the three areas that it records revenue in – lenses and optical instruments, sunglasses and readers, and equipment, Essilor confirmed like-for-like sales growth was up by 2.4% in total. This reflected a 2.8% rise in sales in the lenses and optical instruments division, and a 7.3% rise in the equipment division. However, like-for-like sales in the sunglasses and readers division fell by 2.2%.

Newly acquired companies, such as the Photosynthesis Group (MJS) in China and MyOptique Group in Europe, increased revenue by 4.6%.

Releasing the figures, chairman and chief executive officer of Essilor International, Hubert Sagnières, said: “Essilor continues to deliver with its growth model, which is based on innovation, local partnerships and its mission to improve the visual health of the world’s 7.4 billion inhabitants.”

He continued: “The performance from the beginning of the year has been in line with our annual plan, supported by improved growth in the US and China and the contribution from acquisitions, despite an anticipated decline in the sunglasses and readers division. The deployment of growth initiatives across our businesses in corrective lenses, sunwear and e-commerce, along with the launch of new products, should lead to renewed momentum in the coming quarters.”

Overall in 2017, Essilor estimates revenue growth of 6–8%, including like-for-like rises of 3–5%.