Luxottica announced net profit in the second quarter rose 30% as the manufacturer and retailer of sunglass products escaped the second quarter with the promise of a better fiscal year. Luxottica CEO Andrea Guerra touched base on several reasons for the company’s successful Q2, highlighting strong sales of its Ray-Ban and Oakley brands and a more confident U.S. market. In a conference call with analysts, she went on to speak of improved profitability in both the wholesale and retail channels, a rapid recovery from Sunglass Hut, as well as healthy trends from emerging markets.
The Milan-based company said net profit climbed 30.1% to €150.1 million ($191.5 mm) from €115.3 million ($147.1 mm) in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 13.8% to €1.60 billion ($2.0 bn), up 6.5% in constant currency rates. Sales in U.S. dollars rose 8% despite cautious consumer behavior, while Ray-Ban and Oakley continued to record double-digit growth.
For the Wholesale division, margins were up 160 basis points as sales rose to €651.2 million ($830.6 mm) in the second quarter from €575.4 million ($734.0 mm) in the year-ago period. In terms of sales performance in the main geographic areas, Luxottica saw positive results in emerging markets, most specifically in Brazil, China, India, Korea and Eastern Europe. According to Guerra, “[Those] markets [are] over performing our expectation, and I still strongly believe that we can do even a better job going forward.”
The Retail division was also up significantly. Net sales for the retail division rose to €944.0 million ($1.2 bn) in Q2 from €826.2 million ($1.1 bn) last year. Part of that came from a fast recovery at the Sunglass Hut.
