Essilor sees signs of lens market recovery

The UK lens market began to see a noticeable upturn in business during the third quarter of 2009, according to Essilor.

Announcing positive results for the quarter, the French manufacturer cited the UK along with Italy as countries whose lens markets were experiencing clear recovery.

Essilor reported European revenue for the three months ending September 30 of €324.3m, up from €323.8m during the same period in 2008. However, this included a 2.6 per cent contribution from acquisitions and the actual like-for-like change was a decrease of 1.1 per cent.

Essilor said that the situation remained difficult in the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe and the Netherlands. But it said 'pent-up demand' led to stronger instrument sales in France, bringing robust results for the country.