(PRESS RELEASE) PARIS, FR — EssilorLuxottica announced that consolidated revenue for the third quarter of 2024 reached Euro 6,437 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.0% at constant exchange rates1 compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+2.3% at current exchange rates).
Francesco Milleri, Chairman and CEO, and Paul du Saillant, Deputy CEO at EssilorLuxottica commented: “In the third quarter, we maintained solid momentum, with all regions and businesses contributing to steady growth, fueled by our commitment to innovation and excellence.
We solidified our positioning in the med-tech space, while preparing for the acceleration of the business in the near future, with our myopia management offering and smart glasses roll-out, Nuance Audio launch, Heidelberg Engineering and Supreme additions to the Group’s portfolio. The long-term partnership between EssilorLuxottica and Meta continues to write the bold story of smart glasses as the disruptive category in digital eyewear.
Welcoming 1,000 new talented colleagues from the acquired companies strengthens our collective expertise. We’re also proud to be once again recognized as one of the top-50 companies on Fortune’s ‘Change the World’ list.
As we enter the fourth quarter with confidence, we remain on track with our long-term targets and continue driving meaningful transformation for the years to come.”
* * * Unless otherwise specified, the commentary in the following pages is based on revenue performance at constant exchange rates versus 2023
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Highlights
The third quarter of the year delivered nice growth of the top line, with all the regions and channels on a positive trend. The traditional eyecare/eyewear business advanced nicely, overall close to the Group’s target pace, with EMEA and most of the emerging markets at the forefront. Innovations gave a material additional contribution, with Stellest and Ray-Ban Meta both growing fast. And with the upcoming launch of Nuance Audio another breakthrough innovation is already on the horizon.
Third-quarter revenue by segment
Professional Solutions
Professional Solutions recorded revenue of Euro 3,017 million, up 3.4% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+1.3% at current exchange rates).
All regions were positive in the quarter. North America and Latin America followed a broadly similar trajectory compared to previous quarters. On the other hand, EMEA slightly decelerated from the first half and the performance in Asia-Pacific was affected by weakening macroeconomic conditions across Greater China. Innovation continued to be the growth engine in the lens category, with Varilux XR, Transitions Gen S and Stellest standing out. Ray-Ban Meta wearables kept performing strongly.
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Direct to Consumer
Direct to Consumer registered revenue of Euro 3,420 million, up 4.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+3.2% at current exchange rates).
All regions contributed to growth in the quarter, with the Group progressing broadly in line with the first half of the year, above +4% in terms of comparable-store sales2. North America confirmed the positive trend in optical, while sun kept negative in the quarter but turned positive in September. EMEA rose mid-single digit, with optical banners continuing to progress nicely and the sun business back to healthy growth. Latin America accelerated on the back of the sun business, while Asia-Pacific was aligned to the slightly positive pace of the first half. E-commerce grew at the same pace as the whole Group, with EMEA being the best performing region.
Third-quarter revenue by region
North America
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North America posted revenue of Euro 2,854 million, up 1.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+0.5% at current exchange rates), in line with the trajectory of the first half.
In Professional Solutions, the eyewear business was sustained by the solid growth of the prescription frames but hampered by the negative performance of the sunglasses category as a reflection of the overall uncertain macroeconomic backdrop. Ray-Ban Meta wearables continued to excite and represented one of the strongest drivers of the quarter. On lenses, the new generation technologies once again bolstered the growth of their respective families with Varilux XR and Transitions Gen S gaining further momentum. Trends in the key accounts and partner ECPs remained healthy, while the non-partner independent channel kept facing some pressures.
In Direct to Consumer, the optical banners marched at a similar pace to the first half of the year still relying on the solid demand of the insured customer driven by a further boost in exam capacity and conversion. The performance at Sunglass Hut was still negative but showed some initial signs of improvement in the month of September. E-commerce sales started to regain momentum underpinned by the success of Ray-Ban Meta on Ray-Ban.com.
EMEA
EMEA posted revenue of Euro 2,433 million, up 5.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+5.0% at current exchange rates), slightly decelerating from the first half.
The performance in Professional Solutions was bolstered by the growth of most of the key countries, with all product categories on the rise. The lens business once again successfully leveraged innovation to fuel its growth. Varilux XR continued to have a visible impact despite the passing of its launch anniversary, while Transitions Gen S was rolled out in additional geographies. The Nikon brand also delivered an excellent quarter. Miu Miu, Oakley and Jimmy Choo were the top contributing frame brands and the Ray-Ban Meta wearables kept attracting attention.
In Direct to Consumer, both optical and sun supported the healthy results. The elevation of the consumer journey in the optical banners progressed successfully. The increased availability of EssilorLuxottica products in the store continued to resonate well with consumers and the optical subscription program gained further traction. The sun business strongly recovered following the weather-related slowdown of the second quarter.
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific posted revenue of Euro 794 million, up 5.0% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+4.5% at current exchange rates), slowing down compared to the two previous quarters also reflecting the challenging comparison with +11.7% of the same quarter of last year. Despite the weakening macroeconomic conditions across the country, Greater China closed slightly positive in revenue, with positive Mailand China more than offsetting negative of Hong Kong.
In Professional Solutions, Greater China was low-single-digit positive, sustained by the still buoyant performance of Stellest, which grew more than 40% year on year in revenue in the quarter and approached the mark of 2 million pairs sold year to date, more than offsetting the sales drop at Bolon due to feeble sell-out of the brand. All the other key markets were on a sound growth trajectory, with Japan and India up high-single digit.
In Direct to Consumer, both optical and sun channels were slightly positive in comparable-store sales2, while China as a country was negative in both, due to market conditions. In optical, OPSM grew midsingle digit in Australia/New Zealand. Sun business was slightly positive, supported by the healthy performance of Oakley stores.
Latin America
Latin America posted revenues of Euro 356 million, up 10.8% compared to the third quarter of 2023 (5.6% at current exchange rates), with the two segments equally contributing and the further support of Argentina’s price inflation effect.
In Professional Solutions, Brazil recovered nicely with frames driven by luxury brands and Varilux standing out in lenses. On the other hand, trends in Mexico weakened, with lenses being the least performing product category. Transitions Gen S experienced a particularly favourable momentum in Colombia, overall growing double digits.
In Direct to Consumer, optical banners continued to be the main growth engine, with positive comparable-store sales2 in all countries. Further progresses in the integration of the former GrandVision stores drove results in Mexico, while GMO materially accelerated in the quarter. The sun business in the region turned overall positive, mainly thanks to Sunglass Hut Mexico.
Nine-month revenue by segment
Nine-month revenue by region
In the first nine months of 2024, revenue amounted to Euro 19,727 million, up 4.9% versus the same period of 2023 (+3.0% at current exchange rates), backed up by positive growth across all channels and regions.
Professional Solutions grew 4.5% versus the first nine months of 2023 (+2.4% at current exchange rates), supported by solid EMEA and Asia-Pacific, driven by innovative products. Direct to Consumer was up 5.3% (+3.7% at current exchange rates). Brick-and-mortar retail stores led the rise driven by optical category, while Sunglass Hut in North America showed a sign of recovery only approaching the end of the period. Ray-Ban.com led the growth of online retail.
Positive growth recorded across all regions in the first nine months of the year. EMEA, up 7.3% (+5.2% at current exchange rates), showed a broadly healthy pattern across countries, channels and products, further sustained by progressing integration. Asia-Pacific grew 7.7% (+4.6% at current exchange rates), helped by flourishing Japan, and Professional Solutions in China. Latin America was up 10.1% (+1.0% at current exchange rates), and North America was up 1.6% (+1.1% at current exchange rates) driven by optical categories.
Store Count on September 30, 2024
Long-Term Outlook
The Company confirms its target of mid-single-digit annual revenue growth from 2022 to 2026 at constant exchange rates (based on 2021 pro forma3 revenue), targeting a range of Euro 27-28 billion, and expects to achieve an adjusted4 operating profit as a percentage of revenue in the range of 19-20% by the end of that period.
Conference Call
A conference call in English will be held today at 6:30 pm CEST. The meeting will be available live and may also be heard later at: https://streamstudio.world-television.com/1217-2090-40578/en
Forthcoming Investor Events
- November 12, 2024: J.P. Morgan Global Luxury & Brands Conference in Paris
- November 13, 2024: Bank of America Consumer & Retail Conference in Paris
