MILAN — A successful rebalancing of Safilo Group’s brand portfolio; strong momentum in the U.S., China and online, and an increase in prescription frame sales helped the Italian eyewear company return to profit and report an increase in sales in the first half.
During a conference call with analysts at the end of trading, chief executive officer Angelo Trocchia touted a second quarter that “continued the solid sales and profitability momentum of the first three months of the year,” which allowed Safilo to close the first half with a rebound “well-above the first half of 2019. We believe in the work we are doing and we are moving in the right direction.”
In the second quarter of 2021, the group’s online business was up 64 percent compared with the same period last year, reaching 14.4 percent of total sales, thanks to the contribution of Blenders’ e-commerce sales and to the revenues generated through the internet pure players and to Smith’s direct-to-consumer channel.
Trocchia and Graehsler emphasized the increased focus on the optical division, citing the new successful Polaroid and Carrera prescription glasses, for example. Trocchia said that over the last two years, Safilo has enhanced its sales force “teaching to sell optical versus sun, which requires a very different set of capabilities,” and further pushing on “service, which becomes crucial with optical.
Revenues in Europe rose 26.2 percent to 208.2 million euros, accounting for 40.8 percent of the total.
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