|
|
 | | | |
- close
- close
- close
- close
| |||||||||
This excerpt taken from the LUX 6-K filed Jan 31, 2008. Divisional sales (excluding
Oakley):
· Retail sales: €714 million (-7.2%) (+2.8% excluding effect of exchange rates); retail comparable store sales(2): -1.7% · Total wholesale sales: €479 million (+15.6%) (+20.2% excluding effect of exchange rates)
Andrea Guerra, chief executive officer of Luxottica Group, commented: “Fiscal 2007 was another exceptional year for our Group, marking the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth in sales. We reached our stated goal of €5 billion in sales, reflecting an increase of 12.6% at constant exchange rates from 2006. This result was achieved thanks to a performance in line with the record performance of 2006, when consolidated net sales rose by 14%.”
Mr. Guerra concluded: “The year just ended was especially significant for us in terms of growth and investments. Today, our vertical integration model is much more efficient, we are stronger in all of our markets and our brand portfolio is richer and even more well-balanced in all of our target consumer segments. During 2007, we invested more than $2 billion in the purchase of Oakley, with new openings, rebrandings and an overall rationalization of the store base, we touched approximately one fourth of our nearly 6000 stores worldwide, laying the ground for further growth in the coming three years.”
1
Sales in the Group’s wholesale business excluding Oakley rose by 20% at constant exchange rates, reaching €2 billion, thanks to the important work carried out with the brand portfolio. Wholesale sales to third parties for the year — a key measure of the business — rose by 21.7 percent, excluding effect of exchange rates. Ray-Ban posted its fifth year in a row of double-digit sales growth. Sales of luxury brands, including Bvlgari, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Versace, were also strong. In terms of regions, the business continued to improve penetration all over the world. Of particular note was the performance of the Group’s wholesale business in emerging markets, where sales rose for the year by 40 percent thus highlighting another area of growth going forward.
The performance of the Retail Division excluding Oakley was satisfactory, with sales rising by 5.6% at constant exchange rates and comparable store sales increasing by 1.2%(2) notwithstanding the continuous ups and down of sales in North America due to consumers uncertainty regarding the macro-economic scenario.
The performance for the full year of the Retail Division in Australia and China showed a constant and strong growth trend. The improvement in Sunglass Hut’s sales was even stronger all over the world with comparable store sales growth of 40%(2) over the last three years.
For the full year, the overall performance of the Group’s business in the North American market was very positive, reflecting an increase in total sales in local currency (wholesale and retail) of 6.1%.
In November 2007, the Group completed its merger with Oakley, the second most-recognized eyewear brand in the world after Ray-Ban. Oakley sales are included in the Group’s results for the last 6 weeks of 2007, which is not a period of strong seasonal sales.
The Group plans to report full-year results on March 13, 2008. A detailed outlook for fiscal year 2008 will be announced at the Investor Day on February 7.
Finally, today Luxottica Group announced(3) that it expects to pay dividends for fiscal year 2007 on the Group’s ordinary shares in May 2008. The Group will promptly inform the market of any changes with respect to the date indicated in this announcement, in accordance with applicable regulations.
In accordance with art. 82, comma 2, of Consob Regulation n. 11971/99, Luxottica intends to avail itself of the exemption from the publication of the quarterly report for 4Q07 because IFRS statutory and consolidated financial statements for the related full fiscal year will be published within 90 days from the closing of the same year.
In accordance with Section 2, art. 154 bis of Legislative Decree n. 58/1998 of the Italian Law, Enrico Cavatorta, Luxottica Group’s chief financial officer, confirms that the financial data included in this press release correspond to those included in the Company’s accounting records.
2
|
| |||||||
