PADUA, Italy—The board of directors of Safilo Group S.p.A. (SFLG.MI) has approved the results of the second quarter and first half of 2015, ended June 30.

In Q2 2015, Safilo reported total net sales of €350.6 million, up 12.0 percent compared to €313.1 million recorded in the same quarter of 2014, supported by a weaker Euro. Net sales can be broken down into; Wholesale at €323.4 million in 2014 versus €289.8 million in 2014 for an increase of 11.6 percent, and Retail, which recorded sales of €27.2 million in Q2 of 2015, up 17.1 percent over Q2 2014 at €23.2 million. The Q2 2015 profit equaled €7.7 million, down 49.0 percent compared to the net profit of €15.0 million recorded in Q2 2014.

In the first half of 2015, group total net sales totaled €674.9 million, up 11.3 percent compared to €606.3 million recorded in the same period of 2014. Wholesale recorded net sales of €627.9 million, up 10.8 percent over 2014’s first half net sales of €566.6 million. At Retail, Safilo recorded net sales of €47.0 million for the first six months of 2015 versus €39.7 million for the same period 2014, up 18.2 percent. In the first half 2015, the group recorded a profit of €9.9 million, down 68.5 percent compared to the profit of €31.5 million in the first half of 2014.

“On balance, we are satisfied with the progress of the strategic initiatives that we are implementing in line with our 2020 strategic plan,” said Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo Group. “Our key geographies are recording good growth, namely our core markets of North America and key Western European countries, as well as the new regions of Latin America and Middle East/Asia that we established last year. Our licensed brand portfolio is developing positively following the brand rebalancing roadmap of 2020. Our marketing and product interventions on Carrera, Polaroid and Smith including its further integration into Safilo, are showing early results in countries where we have executed with excellence such as Carrera in North America and Polaroid in Spain, and our focus is on now accelerating the roll out.”

In North America, in the second quarter, the region showed a solid and resilient performance against a more challenging comparable period last year, with the wholesale business growing by 25.2 percent, the company said. For the first half of 2015, net sales in North America reached €270.5 million compared to €216.1 million in 2014, growing by 25.1 percent.

At the end of June 2015, group net debt stood at €110.1 million, down 14.2 percent compared to €128.3 million at the end of March 2015 and 33.7 percent compared to €166.1 million at the end of June 2014.

Safilo’s economic results do not include non-recurring items related to commercial restructuring costs in the EMEA region for €1.2 million and other non-recurring costs for €1.2 million mainly related to the consolidation of the group’s North American distribution network into its Denver facility in 2015 or the non-recurring expenses for €3.0 million related to the voluntary exit incentives signed with employees and trade unions, as the solidarity contracts come to an end, and to some reorganization costs in 2014.