Safilo breaks €1bn barrier

Safilo has today released preliminary figures for its 2005 financial year, recording revenue growth of 8.5 per cent to €1.02bn.

The strong results include good growth in licensed products (up 12.2 per cent) and an excellent performance in the Far East, where sales grew 20 per cent.

Prescription frames however saw a 0.7 per cent fall in revenue while sunglasses achieved 18.5 per cent growth to €527.7m.

The programme of retail openings of the company’s Solstice Sunglass Boutiques continues apace, which now has 55 outlets across the US with more opening each month.

Solstice stocks Safilo-made sunglasses alongside products from its competitors, including Luxottica and smaller players such as Oliver Peoples, Paul Frank and Blinde.