Full year financial results for 2016 have showed that Essilor increased operating profit by 4% and said revenues should grow between 3% and 5% during 2017.
Operating profit was €1.32bn during 2016, up from €1.26bn in 2015, on sales of €7.12bn, up 5.9% year-on-year. Earnings per share were €3.79, up 6.2%.
Essilor said it would accelerate innovation over the course of the next 18 months, with new products in its leading ophthalmic lens brands; Varilux, Crizal and Transitions. In addition, it will quicken the pace of development of its sunwear activities and online sales of eye care products by leveraging the connections between product ranges, geographic expansion and the links of recent acquisitions.
Essilor Chairman and CEO Hubert Sagnieres said that preparations for the merger with Luxottica, announced last month, were progressing well and the deal was still expected to close in the second half of the year. ‘We are going to present resolutions in May (at Essilor's annual shareholder meeting), said Sagnieres. ‘The situation is moving forward successfully as the companies' separate teams work on anti-trust filings. The process has been smooth.’