Luxottica Group, S.p.A. (LUX)

A DECADE OF STRONG GROWTH

After quickly and efficiently integrating the businesses acquired from Bausch & Lomb, Luxottica resumed its growth across its businesses and in their respective geographical regions. Helping in this growth were new managers from the outside, especially CEO Andrea Guerra, who has led the Group since 2004, together with Leonardo Del Vecchio, who remained as chairman.

On the retail front, the Company became a world leader in just a few years by acquiring a number of chains, including Sunglass Hut (2001) a leading global retailer of premium sunglasses, OPSM Group (2003), a leading optical player in the Asia-Pacific region, and finally Cole National (2004), bringing with it one of North America’s other leading optical retail chains, Pearle Vision, and an extensive licensed brand store business. In 2005, the Company began its retail expansion into China, where LensCrafters immediately became a leading brand in the high-end market. In the meantime, the Group started to expand in high potential markets like the Middle East, South Africa, Thailand and India.

In its wholesale distribution segment, prestigious new licensing agreements were supported by an increasing commitment to research, product quality and manufacturing excellence, while distribution developed in the direction of customer differentiation and emerging sales channels, such as large shopping centers and travel retail.