Dive Brief:
- EssilorLuxottica earnings in the first half of 2024 rose up 3.4% to 13.3 billion euros, or about $14.4 billion at current exchange rates, according to a Thursday release.
- Every region saw growth in the mid-single digits except North America, which accounts for approximately 45% of the company’s overall revenue and was up about 1.4%.
- On the wholesale side, the company’s Ray-Ban, Oakley and Prada products “continued to be the hottest frame brands,” per the release, with Ray-Ban seeing “healthy high-single-digit growth” and Prada’s licensed portfolio “up in the high teens.”
Dive Insight:
North America continues to drag on EssilorLuxottica’s bottom line. In Q1, revenue in the region grew a scant 0.6% year over year, which the company attributed to tough year-over-year comps. However, the region’s sluggish performance echoed its Q4 results, which were up 0.6% year over year, as well as its fiscal 2023 revenue, which was up 1.3%.
Sales were the strongest in the company’s second largest market, comprising Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company said in its release that the 5.3% revenue uptick there represented “the most powerful growth engine for the Group,” due in part to “the rising penetration of the subscription model.”
“In the first half of the year, EssilorLuxottica’s strategy continued to pay off with all regions and businesses contributing to positive results,” EssilorLuxottica’s Chairman and CEO Francesco Milleri and Deputy CEO Paul du Saillant said in a joint statement. “With top line growth, margin expansion and record cash flow, the last six months further solidified our long-term outlook.”
Med-tech and smart eyewear were both growth drivers, according to Milleri and du Saillant, with EssilorLuxottica’s Stellest myopia management lenses “seeing exponential growth.” Ray-Ban Meta’s wearable visual technology, launched in 2023, and Nuance Audio’s eyewear, which incorporates hearing aids, were also “set to establish a new category in the market,” they said.
“With new collections coming from all our house and licensed brands, including our first-ever for Moncler, and the announced acquisition of Supreme, we are exactly what we need to be: a tech-driven and brand-rich company caring for and connecting with hundreds of millions of people globally,” Milleri and du Saillant said.
In addition to its other brands, EssilorLuxottica owns Sunglass Hut and manufactures licensed eyewear for companies including Diesel, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Coach and Burberry.
