OPSM and a record year for Sunglass Hut in Australia were standouts within the EssilorLuxottica Asia-Pacific business in 2022, which posted “comparable” revenue of €2.8 billion (AU$4.5 b) against the region’s 2021 performance.
Australia’s strong financial performance comes as the group announced a major renewable energy supply agreement as part of its plan to become carbon neutral in its direct operations by 2025.
In late February, EssilorLuxottica published its full 2022 financial results, with CEO Mr Francesco Milleri announcing record sales of €24.5 billion (AU$39.4 b), with a net profit of €2.2 billion (AU$3.5 b).
Asia-Pacific – EssilorLuxottica’s third biggest region after North America and EMEA – generated 7.2% more revenue in 2022 compared to 2021 at constant exchange rates (+11.8% at current exchange rates).
“The Direct to Consumer division grew mid-single digit at constant exchange rates driven by Australia, with a solid performance in OPSM and a record year for Sunglass Hut growing comparable-store sales by more than one third,” the company stated.
“Asia-Pacific posted comparable revenue … with Mainland China diluting the otherwise excellent performance of the region. Professional Solutions (wholesale customers) was up high-single digit at constant exchange rates.
“All countries recorded strong growth except Mainland China, where the performance was strongly influenced by the COVID-19 circumstances present at different times during the year. However, despite the volatile environment, the demand for myopia management solutions in the country did not fade and Stellest recorded exponential growth more than doubling sales from the prior year.”
Milleri said in addition to record revenue, the company announced ground breaking product launches and delivered on its “promise of a strong, unified company in 2022”.
“Our late chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, would have been proud to see the new heights we reached in every geography and the growing bonds between our people and customers,” he said.
“In 2022, we strengthened our open, collaborative business model, while completing important acquisitions such as Walman in North America and Shamir in Israel, and continuing to invest in quality eyecare and eyewear for the benefit of the entire market. At the same time, we continued to showcase our unique innovation capability, through new sustainable collections and the ongoing deployment of new lens products and categories.”
In the face of ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, Milleri said the company remained focused on: the vertical integration of the business, the embedding of big data in corporate decisions, its global footprint, and the deployment of its sustainability program ‘Eyes on the Planet’.
“In 2022, we also confirmed our long-term commitment to our mission by launching the largest vision care foundation in the world. All these key factors, combined with our nearly 200,000 talented employees, will enable us to achieve continued growth in the years ahead,” he added.
Green energy agreement
Meanwhile, EssilorLuxottica and ERG, a leading European producer of energy from renewable sources through its subsidiary ERG Power Generation, have signed a 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the supply of approximately 900 GWh of green energy between 2023-2034.
The agreement is based on the sale by ERG of approximately 75% of the energy produced by its Partinico-Monreale wind farm near Palermo, Italy.
Following the replacement of the entire facility with latest generation equipment, the wind farm will consist of 10 turbines of 4.2 MW with a total installed power of 42 MW (compared to the previous 19 turbines for a 16 MW installed power) and an estimated annual production of 94GWh (compared to the current 27 GWh). The wind farm is in an advanced stage of construction and will come into operation during the second quarter of 2023.
For EssilorLuxottica, this agreement marks an important step towards its objective of becoming carbon neutral in its direct operations (Scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 2025, starting with Europe by the end of the year.
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