Double-digit growth for Specsavers Australia and New Zealand

The UK, the company’s largest market, accounted for £1.2 billion (AU$2.1 b) of this figure, up 6.5% on the previous year.Australia represented the second largest market by revenue, with sales increasing 12.3% to £420.9 million (AU$716.7 m). New Zealand’s revenue also showed double-digit growth, rising 13.4% to £60.1 million (AU$102.3 m). Customer volumes were said to have increased by 11% and 9% for the two countries, respectively.As at the end of February 2016, Specsavers was operating 1,800 practices across 10 countries, including 320 in Australia and 51 in New Zealand. The company had more than 2,400 franchise partners and 30,000 staff serving in excess of 32 million customers worldwide.Specsavers sold 19.5 million frames and 400 million contact lenses over 2015–16. In Australia and New Zealand, more than three million eye tests were carried out during the year, including almost 60,000 in one week across Australian stores.A record 4.1 million pairs of glasses were dispatched from Specsavers’ Melbourne glazing services laboratory in the 2015 calendar year and, for the first time, more than 100,000 jobs were processed through the facility in one week.The company engaged in various philanthropic activities throughout the year and raised £2.5 million globally. An Australia and New Zealand community program, which this year celebrated its two-year anniversary, was said to have raised AU$1.63 million to date, with local stores donating almost AU$768,000 to The Fred Hollows Foundation and AU$860,000 to various other local charities.In Australia, Specsavers also launched two limited-edition sunglasses frames featuring artwork by Aboriginal artist Langaliki Langaliki. The frames raised AU$100,000 for the Close the Gap charity, which supports indigenous and non-indigenous Australians with vision loss.Mr Paul Fussey, Specsavers’ chief financial officer and managing director for Australia and New Zealand, described 2015–16 as “another year of growth and success”.“The changing landscape of optometry in terms of government legislation and industry requirents provides new opportunities that … we will act upon to differentiate ourselves,” he commented.“There is no denying that there will be challenges, not least the continually changing economy and retail market, along with the need to guard against a resurgent key competitor and multiple new players. However, our ability to adapt and respond as the market evolves is one of our strongest assets.”