Essilor gains momentum

Essilor has seen an 8.4 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue at €1,322.6m compared to first three months of 2013, excluding the currency effect.

Company chairman and CEO Hubert Sagnieres described the results as one of the best quarterly performances of the past three years, in a more favourable global environment. ‘It reflected the vitality of our value creation strategy built on product innovation, consumer marketing, the development of a high-quality sunwear range and the deployment of our unique partnership model,’ he said, adding that since April 1 2014 it had strengthened its business base with the acquisitions of photochromic lens firm Transitions Optical and online vision care retailer Coastal.com. These he described as new competitive advantages that would strengthen the company’s momentum in the coming quarters.