07.22.21
Rank: #14 (Last year: #12)
$8.25 Billion ($14.43 Billion)
Prior Fiscal: $8.84 billion
Percentage Change: +6.7%
No. of Employees: 140,000 (total)
Global Headquarters: Charenton-le-Pont, France
KEY EXECUTIVES:
Francesco Milleri, CEO
Paul du Saillant, Deputy CEO, EssilorLuxottica; Chairman and CEO, Essilor
David Wielemans, CFO
Norbert Gorny, Co-COO
Chrystel Barranger, President Europe and Photochromics, Essilor
Ernesto Diaz, President LATAM, Essilor
Rick Gadd, President, North America, Essilor
Éric Léonard, Chief Integration Officer, Corporate Strategy and IT, Essilor
Grita Loebsack, Chief Marketing Officer, Essilor
Frédéric Mathieu, Corp. Sr. VP, Human Resources, Essilor
Bernhard Nuesser, President AMERA, Online, and Digital, Essilor
Arnaud Ribadeau Dumas, President Greater China, Instruments, and Mission, Essilor
At last year’s Facebook Connect annual conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his company and EssilorLuxottica would partner to develop the next generation of smart glasses, combining Facebook apps and technologies with Luxottica brands and Essilor advanced lens technology. The first product will be under the Ray-Ban brand, scheduled to launch this year.
“We’re passionate about exploring devices that can give people better ways to connect with those closest to them,” Vice President of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth told the press. “Wearables have the potential to do that. With EssilorLuxottica we have an equally ambitious partner who’ll lend their expertise and world-class brand catalogue to the first truly fashionable smart glasses,”
Since EssilorLuxottica proclaimed its $8 billion purchase of optical retailer GrandVision in 2019, the deal has been fraught with legal skirmishes. Last July EssilorLuxottica began proceedings to assess how GrandVision managed business during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the extent GrandVision breached obligations under the acquisition agreement. “Despite repeated requests, GrandVision has not provided this information on a voluntary basis, leaving EssilorLuxottica with no other option but to resort to legal proceedings,” EssilorLuxottica commented in a press release.
GrandVision filed intent to start arbitration proceedings three weeks later. EssilorLuxottica believed these to be an obvious attempt to detract from GrandVision’s breaches under the Support Agreement and failure to provide required information. The company became concerned about GrandVision’s reluctance to offer information, worrying about about motives and the extent of the obligation breaches.
EssilorLuxottica’s demands for information disclosure were dismissed a month later, so the company filed an appeal in September against the judgment.
In March of this year, the European Commission cleared the acquisition after a long in-depth review slowed by the pandemic. Chilean market regular FNE cleared it in April, following divestment of GrandVision’s Chilean operations under the brand Rotter Y Krauss. The deal has not yet closed due to decisions regarding the ongoing litigations.
The pandemic urged Essilor to speed integration with Luxottica following tensions over governance where both sides volleyed over who was attempting to dominate the company. Last March as the pandemic shut down the world at large, Paul du Saillant was appointed Essilor CEO, succeeding Laurent Vacherot. du Saillant named a new combined management committee, and the Essilor Board of Directors was trimmed from 15 to five members. EssilorLuxottica Co-CFO Hilary Halper stepped down from her position last March as well.
“This is necessary to rebound faster when the recovery comes, fulfill our mission of improving lives by improving sight and further our integration with Luxottica. Together, we will make EssilorLuxottica stronger,” du Saillant, who is also deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica, told the press.
Executive vice-chairman Hubert Sagnières retired toward the end of last year. EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Millieri and du Saillant were given those executive powers as a result.
The pandemic stifled the company’s revenue, dropping 6.1 percent to 6.7 billion Euros ($8.25 billion) from the year prior. Lenses and optical instrument revenue plummeted 12.2 percent to 6 billion Euros. A steep decline in second quarter sales preceded a gradual V-shaped recovery due to strong prescription lens performance. Launches of the Stellest lens, Transitions Signature GEN 8, Varilux Comfort Max lenses, and the VR-800 measuring instrument further bolstered sales last year.
In July, the firm launched the Stellest spectacle lens for myopia in China’s Wenzhou Medical University Eye Hospital. The lens was rolled out globally later in the year. The lens’s H.A.L.T. (Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target) technology consists of aspherical lenslets spread on 11 rings to create a signal volume that slows down eye elongation. Compared to single-vision lenses in a three-year 2018 trial, Stellest slowed myopia progression by 60 percent on average in children after one year. Over the same period, eye elongation was slowed in 28 percent of children wearing Stellest lenses compared to evidence of eye elongation in all subjects wearing single-vision.
August saw the announcement of EssilorLuxottica360, a digital support tool created to help eye care practices improve traffic, visibility, and patient experience. The program supports independent eye care professionals and provides patient-preferred brands and advanced lens technology.
Last October the company rolled out next-generation Varilux Comfort Max varifocal lenses. The lens’ useful vision zone is up to 46 percent larger than previous generations, enabling less struggle to find the right gaze direction or posture. The company claims a wearer flexibility boost of up to 258 more postures and head movements to see sharply. The lens also includes blue light protective material.
“Essilor has responded to the current challenges faced in today’s digital environment to provide a new and reliable solution to offer to patients,” Essilor managing director Tim Precious told the press. “This could help attract patients to try a varifocal lens for the first time and also helps widen the appeal of varifocal lenses to a younger audience with digital eye strain.”
Sunglasses and readers drooped 19.6 percent to 595 million euros due to pandemic lockdowns. Offsetting this loss were strong FGX reader sales and Bolon prescription frame sales in China. Equipment proceeds tumbled 28.5 percent due to reduced investments early last year, and sales of new machines remained subdued from March onward. Consumable sales were resilient throughout the year.
$8.25 Billion ($14.43 Billion)
Prior Fiscal: $8.84 billion
Percentage Change: +6.7%
No. of Employees: 140,000 (total)
Global Headquarters: Charenton-le-Pont, France
KEY EXECUTIVES:
Francesco Milleri, CEO
Paul du Saillant, Deputy CEO, EssilorLuxottica; Chairman and CEO, Essilor
David Wielemans, CFO
Norbert Gorny, Co-COO
Chrystel Barranger, President Europe and Photochromics, Essilor
Ernesto Diaz, President LATAM, Essilor
Rick Gadd, President, North America, Essilor
Éric Léonard, Chief Integration Officer, Corporate Strategy and IT, Essilor
Grita Loebsack, Chief Marketing Officer, Essilor
Frédéric Mathieu, Corp. Sr. VP, Human Resources, Essilor
Bernhard Nuesser, President AMERA, Online, and Digital, Essilor
Arnaud Ribadeau Dumas, President Greater China, Instruments, and Mission, Essilor
At last year’s Facebook Connect annual conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his company and EssilorLuxottica would partner to develop the next generation of smart glasses, combining Facebook apps and technologies with Luxottica brands and Essilor advanced lens technology. The first product will be under the Ray-Ban brand, scheduled to launch this year.
“We’re passionate about exploring devices that can give people better ways to connect with those closest to them,” Vice President of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth told the press. “Wearables have the potential to do that. With EssilorLuxottica we have an equally ambitious partner who’ll lend their expertise and world-class brand catalogue to the first truly fashionable smart glasses,”
Since EssilorLuxottica proclaimed its $8 billion purchase of optical retailer GrandVision in 2019, the deal has been fraught with legal skirmishes. Last July EssilorLuxottica began proceedings to assess how GrandVision managed business during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the extent GrandVision breached obligations under the acquisition agreement. “Despite repeated requests, GrandVision has not provided this information on a voluntary basis, leaving EssilorLuxottica with no other option but to resort to legal proceedings,” EssilorLuxottica commented in a press release.
GrandVision filed intent to start arbitration proceedings three weeks later. EssilorLuxottica believed these to be an obvious attempt to detract from GrandVision’s breaches under the Support Agreement and failure to provide required information. The company became concerned about GrandVision’s reluctance to offer information, worrying about about motives and the extent of the obligation breaches.
EssilorLuxottica’s demands for information disclosure were dismissed a month later, so the company filed an appeal in September against the judgment.
In March of this year, the European Commission cleared the acquisition after a long in-depth review slowed by the pandemic. Chilean market regular FNE cleared it in April, following divestment of GrandVision’s Chilean operations under the brand Rotter Y Krauss. The deal has not yet closed due to decisions regarding the ongoing litigations.
The pandemic urged Essilor to speed integration with Luxottica following tensions over governance where both sides volleyed over who was attempting to dominate the company. Last March as the pandemic shut down the world at large, Paul du Saillant was appointed Essilor CEO, succeeding Laurent Vacherot. du Saillant named a new combined management committee, and the Essilor Board of Directors was trimmed from 15 to five members. EssilorLuxottica Co-CFO Hilary Halper stepped down from her position last March as well.
“This is necessary to rebound faster when the recovery comes, fulfill our mission of improving lives by improving sight and further our integration with Luxottica. Together, we will make EssilorLuxottica stronger,” du Saillant, who is also deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica, told the press.
Executive vice-chairman Hubert Sagnières retired toward the end of last year. EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Millieri and du Saillant were given those executive powers as a result.
The pandemic stifled the company’s revenue, dropping 6.1 percent to 6.7 billion Euros ($8.25 billion) from the year prior. Lenses and optical instrument revenue plummeted 12.2 percent to 6 billion Euros. A steep decline in second quarter sales preceded a gradual V-shaped recovery due to strong prescription lens performance. Launches of the Stellest lens, Transitions Signature GEN 8, Varilux Comfort Max lenses, and the VR-800 measuring instrument further bolstered sales last year.
In July, the firm launched the Stellest spectacle lens for myopia in China’s Wenzhou Medical University Eye Hospital. The lens was rolled out globally later in the year. The lens’s H.A.L.T. (Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target) technology consists of aspherical lenslets spread on 11 rings to create a signal volume that slows down eye elongation. Compared to single-vision lenses in a three-year 2018 trial, Stellest slowed myopia progression by 60 percent on average in children after one year. Over the same period, eye elongation was slowed in 28 percent of children wearing Stellest lenses compared to evidence of eye elongation in all subjects wearing single-vision.
August saw the announcement of EssilorLuxottica360, a digital support tool created to help eye care practices improve traffic, visibility, and patient experience. The program supports independent eye care professionals and provides patient-preferred brands and advanced lens technology.
Last October the company rolled out next-generation Varilux Comfort Max varifocal lenses. The lens’ useful vision zone is up to 46 percent larger than previous generations, enabling less struggle to find the right gaze direction or posture. The company claims a wearer flexibility boost of up to 258 more postures and head movements to see sharply. The lens also includes blue light protective material.
“Essilor has responded to the current challenges faced in today’s digital environment to provide a new and reliable solution to offer to patients,” Essilor managing director Tim Precious told the press. “This could help attract patients to try a varifocal lens for the first time and also helps widen the appeal of varifocal lenses to a younger audience with digital eye strain.”
Sunglasses and readers drooped 19.6 percent to 595 million euros due to pandemic lockdowns. Offsetting this loss were strong FGX reader sales and Bolon prescription frame sales in China. Equipment proceeds tumbled 28.5 percent due to reduced investments early last year, and sales of new machines remained subdued from March onward. Consumable sales were resilient throughout the year.