Specsavers’ Australian business has outstripped much of the rest of the world as the multinational optometry provider posted a strong financial performance in 2023-24.
The latest annual review shows Australia contributed £874.5 million (AU$1.69 billion) to the company’s global revenue of £4.01b (AU$7.74b) to February 2024, as the local business also hit new milestones with its lens glazing and audiology service.
The New Zealand business contributed £102.8m (AU$200.8m) in 2023-24, up from £92.9m (AU$181.5m) the previous year.
That Australian performance was 17.7% up on the £742.9m (AU$1.435b) it contributed in the previous year, and greater than the company’s 10.3% jump in global revenue, from £3.55b (AU$6.86b) during that period.
Australia’s result means it is comfortably Specsavers’ second biggest market, behind only the UK, which generated £2.172b (AU$4.19b).
Specsavers’ growth in Canada was another stand-out. Its revenue grew 254%, from £17.6m (AU$33.9m) in 2022-23 to £62.3m (AU$120.3m), largely on the back of huge expansion in the North American nation. The company now has 110 stores there, after opening its first in 2021 – 63% of the 88 new stores opened around the world in 2023-24 were there.
The review acknowledged that the business was operating in a “tough economic environment” around the globe, with customers facing significant financial pressures.
It said Specsavers’ “relentless” focus on best-in-market pricing and promotions, combined with “world-leading expertise, ensures we can respond to the current climate and really make a difference in our communities”.
It highlighted the launch of its new customer experience platform, InMoment, complemented by “industry-leading AI analysis”, helping it better understand customer sentiment, and the use of both email and SMS surveys to collect vital feedback and enhance the customer journey.
Also, the company spent £60m (AU$116m) during the past year on 392 store relocation, expansion or refit projects around the world. This included upgrades and capacity reinvestments for 58% of stores across Australia and New Zealand.
Specsavers ANZ managing director Mr Paul Bott said while the economy continues to be challenging in Australia and New Zealand, the company took pride in being “a value champion”.
“Since the very beginning, Specsavers’ mission has always been to make eye and hearing care accessible and affordable to everyone, and it is something that is as true today as it was when we entered the market,” he said.
“In a tough economy, we see our role to deliver on that mission as more important than ever, ensuring Aussies and Kiwis can continue to prioritise their eye and hearing health, by providing quality care coupled with exceptional service and great value.”
Through its joint venture partnership model, Bott said in tough economies Specsavers was working hand-in-hand with store optometry, retail and audiology partners to ensure they are well set up to care for their local communities.
“Together, we invest a significant portion of growth back into the partnership so our stores look and feel the best they ever have, have the capacity to care for more customers, and can provide world-class clinical expertise and customer experiences for everyone who chooses Specsavers,” he said.
Looking ahead, Bott said Specsavers was keen to continue evolving its customer journey.
“Value isn’t just based on price, but respecting our customers’ time and increasing accessibility, and we are focused on offering that by blending digital, online and in-store experiences. Whether that’s remote eyecare so customers can access timely appointments in their area or trying on frames virtually to save time in store, we’re committed to ensuring customers can engage with us effortlessly into the future,” he said.
“One of the great things about an annual review is the opportunity to stop and reflect on what we’ve achieved over the past 12 months, and for me, across all the incredible milestones, numbers and achievements, underpinning everything is our people. Both in our stores and our support office, our people are the heartbeat of Specsavers.”
Beyond the figures
The review reported on a number of other highlights for Specsavers in Australia.
The company maintained its close relationships with universities across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) to promote optometry and support its workforce. In 2023-24, 54% of final-year students from its eight affiliated optometry schools chose to work at Specsavers, which meant a record 247 graduate optometrists joined its two-year development program.
A major supply chain milestone was achieved for the company’s Australian factory, Melbourne Glazing Services, which processed its 60 millionth order in January 2024 for a Wonthaggi customer in Victoria.
After becoming fully operational in 2023, Century Optic, Specsavers’ newest prescription lenses lab and glazing facility in China, also added greater production capacity. The site now supplies two million surfaced lenses a year to Australia and New Zealand. Since opening, ongoing investments in surfacing lines, including faster and more accurate lens polishing machines, have increased overall capacity by 225% and anti-reflective coatings volume has grown by 185%.
Tele-optometry was a key focus during the past year as well, which helped improve access to eye health services in remote and hard-to-recruit areas. The service is now live in Sweden, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands, and is being piloted in Australia – where it’s referred to as remote eyecare.
The company continues to grow and expand its audiology offering too.
The annual review said audiology, available in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, “enjoyed another successful year … dispensing almost three quarters of a million hearing aids globally”.
“We continued to grow our capacity and change the industry for the better by offering the best possible value in the provision of audiology outcomes.”
The fastest area of growth last year was ANZ, where customers gained access to “best-value hearing care” in almost 80% of Specsavers’ stores. That contributed to a record 30% volume increase on 2022/23.
The company celebrated highlights in its charitable work. It donated AU$1.6m to The Fred Hollows Foundation’s Indigenous Australia Program, which helped the foundation and its program partners conduct more than 13,500 eye tests, provide 2,183 pairs of glasses and support almost 3,000 eye surgeries, screenings and treatments for cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.
The funding also helped train 159 community health workers, deliver eye health education sessions to almost 600 school children, and establish an integrated optometry clinic within an Aboriginal medical service in rural Western Australia, the company said.
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