Industry News
EssilorLuxottica Reports 10 Percent Revenue Decline in Q1 2020
EssilorLuxottica announced that consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2020 totalled Euro 3,784 million, representing a year-on-year decline of 10.1% compared to Q1 2019 revenue (-10.9% at constant exchange rates), revealing good resistance in the current unprecedented global crisis.
“The market is going through an unprecedented crisis and we have answered the call as a leader with a responsibility to everyone whose lives we touch. Leading by example during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to keep our employees and their families safe, provide essential vision care for emergency workers on the front lines and do our part to support the customers and partners who make up the lifeblood of our business. While we are adapting the organization for the few months ahead, early experience from the first countries to open is encouraging. When the crisis fades, the resilient demand for better vision will be visible again and we will be ready to serve it. The digitally powered network that we have worked hard to build, connecting more than 400,000 optical stores and labs, can now guarantee the best support to our customers and an open door for all consumers even in the most difficult times. This combination of social and business leadership will strongly help EssilorLuxottica and the entire industry when a wider recovery materializes. Until then, we continue to sharpen our digital assets, feed our consumers’ love for brands and build on our talents”, commented Francesco Milleri, CEO and Deputy Chairman of Luxottica, and Paul du Saillant, CEO of Essilor.
According to the company, EssilorLuxottica entered the COVID-19 crisis with the advantage of a balanced market exposure spanning multiple products, channels, price points and geographies as well as about 70% of revenue exposed to resilient optical prescription needs. Its recent digital transformation has allowed EssilorLuxottica to strengthen its customer and consumer relationships during this downturn through CRM, e-commerce, online learning and social media.
Retail optical in North America and Australia-New Zealand proved to be relatively less affected, down low-to-mid single digit in sales at constant exchange rates in the quarter after a strong performance in January-February. This was due to a later emergence of COVID-19 in those regions as well as the continued essential eyecare the optical networks provided to their clients in need. Luxottica’s direct e-commerce was up 14% in the first quarter, with all the major proprietary platforms posting solid growth. In terms of sales trends, Australia and New Zealand started the year on a positive note, with a nice progression in January-February.
