Luxottica Group fiscal year 2004 sales were up 14.1% to €3,223.9 million ($4,010.1 mm). Retail sales were €2,315.8 million ($2880.5 mm), up 15.7% for the year and Retail comparable store sales jumped +4.2%. Net income for the year was up 7.3% to €286.9 million ($356.5 mm). Diluted EPS was €0.64 (80 cents).

Consolidated financial highlights

Fiscal Year 2004

  • Sales: €3,223.9 million (+14.1%, +21.6% assuming constant exchange rates)
  • Retail sales: €2,315.8 million (+15.7%); Retail comparable store sales: +4.2%
  • Wholesale sales: €1,094.3 million (+10.0%)
  • Operating income: €492.8 million (+14.1%); Operating margin: 15.3%
  • Retail operating income: €310.3 million (+15.0%); Retail Operating margin: 13.4%
  • Wholesale operating income: €233.1 million (+22.0%); Wholesale operating margin: 21.3%
  • Net income: €286.9 million (+7.3%); Net margin: 8.9%
  • Earnings per share: €0.64 (US$0.80 per ADS)

Fourth quarter of 2004

  • Sales: €941.7 million (+31.0%, +41.7% assuming constant exchange rates)
  • Retail sales: €730.1 million (+37.3%); Retail comparable store sales: +4.1%
  • Wholesale sales: €258.2 million (+16.7%)
  • Operating income: €104.5 million (+5.5%); Operating margin: 11.1%
  • Retail operating income: €74.4 million (+25.0%); Retail operating margin: 10.2%
  • Wholesale operating income: €45.4 million (+20.6%); Wholesale operating margin: 17.6%
  • Net income: €59.8 million (+0.2%); Net margin: 6.3%
  • Earnings per share: €0.13 (US$0.17 per ADS)

Andrea Guerra, chief executive officer of Luxottica Group, commented: “This was a particularly strong year for our entire organization, both in retail and wholesale. All our optical and sun retail brands, from LensCrafters to Sunglass Hut to OPSM Group, performed well above industry trends, especially in terms of profitability. In wholesale, our strong fashion and house brands, which include Ray-Ban, the best-selling sun and prescription brand in the world, continued to strengthen their position in key markets worldwide, testifying to the overall strength of our portfolio. Within this context, wholesale sales to third parties rose by 13.2 percent, reflecting an improvement in the trend for the year.”

“During the final quarter of the year, from a retail perspective in North America we focused on the integration of the important Cole National business, the success of which is key for our Group. As of today, all is on track with no surprises.”

Strong free cash flow generation was once again one of the main highlights of Luxottica Group results. In fact, consolidated net outstanding debt as of December 31, 2004, was €1,711.3 million, compared with €1,470.4 million as of December 31, 2003, reflecting a net increase of €240.9 million. This result included a total consideration of approximately €600 million for the Cole National acquisition as well as €95.5 million in dividend paid.

For the full year, the tax rate was 35.4 percent, compared with a tax rate of 30.1 percent for fiscal year 2003.

Forecast for fiscal year 2005

Luxottica Group, based on a euro 1 = US$1.30 average exchange rate for the full year and an expected tax rate of between 37 percent and 40 percent, forecasts the following results for fiscal year 2005:

  • Sales: from euro 4,000 million to euro 4,150 million
  • Earnings per share: from euro 0.68 to euro 0.70 (earnings per ADS from
    US$0.88 to US$0.91)

  • Net debt/EBITDA: from 2.0x to 2.2x(5)