A raft of global industry players have published better than expected first half results this week, led by Alcon which saw its share price leap 14 per cent on the back of a 43 per cent increase in second quarter profits to $466m (£253m).
Global turnover increased 11.8 per cent to $1.3bn while consumer eye care sales increased 24 per cent to $184m. Contact lens disinfectant sales grew 38 per cent, primarily due to the worldwide withdrawal of Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc. In the US, Alcon said its share of this market had increased from 24 to 33 per cent.
Meanwhile Hoya now sells more eye care product abroad than at home as it recorded a 21 per cent increase in overseas eye care sales to ¥19.5bn (£91m) in its first quarter results. The eye care business totalled ¥37.7bn, 41 per cent of the Japanese corporation’s turnover. Its total sales were ¥92.6bn, 13 per cent up on last year.
Essilor has reported a 15.1 per cent revenue increase in its first half results from €1.18bn in 2005 to €1.36bn (£931m) in 2006, a growth of 8.7 per cent comparing like with like.
In Europe it reported a 7.6 per cent sales increase from €563m to €606m, with like-for-like growth of 6.2 per cent.
Organic growth was strong in the first half, with revenue increasing 11.5 per cent like-for-like in the first quarter and 6.1 per cent in the second quarter, while businesses acquired in 2005 boosted reported revenue by 3.7 per cent.
Eyewear companies also performed well. Safilo saw first-half sales increase 8 per cent to €605m. House brand sales rose 13.2 per cent and US sales increased 16.4 per cent, but customer service issues led to a 2.6 per cent fall in European sales outside Italy. Safilo UK recorded a 12 per cent increase in eyewear sales in the first half.
Similarly De Rigo Vision has achieved sales of €91.5m in its first quarter. Like Safilo, its UK wholesale subsidiary performed particularly well, contributing to the 18 per cent global growth.
Luxottica published its second quarter results yesterday, after Optician went to press, with analysts expecting a 26 per cent hike in profits to €114.5m.
Meanwhile Oakley posted record results for its second quarter: total net sales increased 19.4 per cent to $203.6m while optics net sales increased 20.9 per cent to $158.5m.