EssilorLuxottica, a manufacturer of high-end eyewear, on Thursday reported an increase in fourth-quarter revenues while claiming strong growth in a difficult environment. Nevertheless, because of Covid-19 restrictions, the company’s performance in China fell.
At current currency rates, the company that makes Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses reported a 9.4% increase in revenue to €6.11 billion ($6.49 billion) in the fourth quarter of the year.
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) was the best-performing region for the quarter, according to the French-Italian eyeglasses company, as a result of strong sales growth in France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Scandinavia.
At constant exchange rates, regional sales increased by 6.2 percent to €2.09 billion.
However the Asia-Pacific market only increased by 3.1 percent to €731 million, the company said in a statement, as performance plummeted during the quarter as China was hit by a major Covid-19 wave.
On the other side, luxury rival Hermès claimed last week that wealthy Chinese consumers bought its products in the fourth quarter, leading it to surpass sales and margin expectations.
Richemont, a Swiss jewellery manufacturer, and French luxury powerhouse LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, have both benefited from their wealthy clients’ resistance to the cost-of-living issue.
EssilorLuxottica suggested increasing the dividend by 29 percent from the previous year to €3.23 per share.
