European eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica announced its key financial data for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, and the fourth quarter: The annual sales revenue increased by 3.7% year-on-year to 25.395 billion euros (calculated at constant exchange rates: +7.1%), in line with analysts’ expectations. The adjusted operating profit margin reached 16.5%, slightly below analysts’ expectations. The company countered rising costs and persistent inflation by enhancing synergies and achieving robust revenue growth. Driven by the markets in China and Brazil, the fourth quarter’s sales revenue increased by 2.4% year-on-year to 6.25 billion euros (calculated at constant exchange rates: +7.1%).
Francesco Milleri, Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica, and Deputy CEO Paul du Saillant commented, “We’re proud to share these strong results with our stakeholders, delivering another year above 7% revenue growth1 , including an acceleration in Q4, with every one of our regions doing its part. Our profitability remained strong, with a record adjusted 2 Group net profit close to 3 billion euros and free cash flow 5 at 2.4 billion.”
“It was also a year of major investments: growing new product categories, with Stellest in myopia and Ray-Ban Meta in wearables, adding beloved brands like Moncler and Jimmy Choo to our portfolio, leveraging artificial and business intelligence, expanding our operations footprint and reinforcing the retail presence globally. This will support the evolution of the Company and the transformation of the industry over the next decade.”
The day after the earnings release, as of the close on February 15th, EssilorLuxottica’s stock price fell by 1.36% to 188.12 euros/share, with a current market value of approximately 84.942 billion euros.
In terms of brands, Crizal and Varilux maintain leading positions in the lens sector, with Stellest‘s revenue more than doubling. The frame sector is driven by two proprietary brands, with Ray-Ban growing in line with the group’s overall growth and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses also providing support. With the push from Prada and Armani brands, the licensed brand business achieved a growth of 10-20%.
Regionally, emerging regions performed the best this quarter, achieving double-digit growth at constant exchange rates in the Asia-Pacific region (+10.3%) and Latin America (+12.7%), driven by key markets such as China and Brazil. Mature regions also contributed, with the North American region (+5.9%) accelerating compared to the third quarter under the push of wholesale and retail; the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region (+6.4%) confirmed the good development momentum of two major businesses in the fourth quarter. The annual performance also reflects this situation, with the Asia-Pacific region (+14.3%) and Latin America (+9.9%) growing faster than the EMEA region (+8.2%) and North America (+4.2%).
| Source: Official financial report, Bloomberg
| Image source: Group official website
| Editor: Liu Jun
