Luxottica Group, the eyewear giant and parent of Oakley, Ray-Ban and Sunglass Hut, reported fourth-quarter revenues rose 13.4 percent, or 7.9 percent in currency neutral (c-n) terms, to €1.87 billion ($2.8 bn).
The gains were led by North America, which grew 12.2 percent in the quarter. North America saw an 11 percent for the Retail Division on an adjusted basis and climbed 18.6 percent for the Wholesale Division, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2014
The performance lifted the Italian company's net sales for fiscal 2014 to €7.65 billion ($11.5 bn), up 6.1 percent (4.6 percent c-n) from fiscal 2013.
Wholesale and Retail divisions both contributed to the company’s strong results for the full fiscal year, growing 8.6 percent, or 5.4 percent on an adjusted basis, at constant exchange rates. Once again, the proprietary and licensed brands portfolio drove growth. Ray-Ban, in particular, continued to record double-digit growth.
The results were also driven by the performance of Luxottica’s major retail chains, especially Sunglass Hut’s sustained sales growth worldwide (+13.5 percent c-n) and LensCrafters’ progressive quarterly sales improvement. Sunglass Hut worldwide same-stores sales grew 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter and were up 7.4 percent for the full fiscal year in c-n neutral terms.
In North America, adjusted net sales in US dollars for the year grew 5.3 percent, driven by an increase of 4 percent on an adjusted basis in the Retail Division and 11.2 percent in the Wholesale Division.
