Strong U.S. Sales Power EssilorLuxottica’s First Half 2021 Revenue

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—EssilorLuxottica (Reuters: ESLX.PA) turned in a solid financial performance for the first half of 2021, buoyed by the U.S. market, which generated more than half of the Group’s revenue. Business acceleration in France, Italy, the U.K., Mainland China, Australia and Brazil, particularly during the second quarter, marked EssilorLuxottica’s return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, the company said. Revenue for the Group during the first half of 2021, ending June 30, totaled €8,768 million, a 5.7 percent increase over first half 2019 at constant exchange rates.

Workers and Employers Weigh Their Options: Back to the Office Grind or Work From Home?

Last week in our VMAIL newsletter we highlighted a story from Vox on what the pandemic has done to people’s views about working a five-day week. Titled “The Five-Day Workweek Is Dead” Vox’s Anna North summed it all up by declaring that “it’s time for something better” for today’s workers. She wrote “more than 15 months into the pandemic, there’s a growing conversation about how American workers can take back more of their time. The trauma and disruption of the last year and a half have a lot of Americans re-evaluating their relationships to work… And part of that re-evaluation is about the workweek, which many say is due for a reboot. Some employers are testing out four-day workweeks.” 

EssilorLuxottica Posts Solid Results for First Half 2021, Sets Target of Carbon Neutrality by 2025

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—EssilorLuxottica (Reuters: ESLX.PA) announced today a plan to achieve carbon neutrality within the next four years. The ambitious plan was revealed by EssilorLuxottica’s management against a backdrop of the company’s solid financial performance for the first half of 2021, which indicates a rebound from the impact of COVID-19 the prior year and a return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Revenue for the Group during the first half of 2021, ending June 30, totaled €8,768 million, a +5.7 percent increase at constant exchange rates over the first half of 2019. Operating profit rose to €1,271 million, compared with a loss of €378 million a year ago and up 35.1 percent versus 2019.

Hoya Group Reports Significant Increases in Sales and Profits in First Quarter

TOKYO—Boosted by strong sales in both North America and Europe, Hoya Group (7741:JP) on Thursday reported that sales for the first quarter (April 1 through June 30) of its current fiscal year totaled 158,000 million yen, an increase of 44.5 percent from the same period of the previous fiscal year. The quarterly profit before tax totaled 51,018 million yen, and quarterly profit amounted to 41,299 million yen, up 59.7 percent and 61.1 percent, respectively. The quarterly profit margin before tax was 32.3 percent, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.1 points.

Healthy Eyes Advantage (HEA) Acquires Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA)

BOCA RATON, Fla.—Healthy Eyes Advantage (HEA) announced today that it has acquired Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA), expanding its commitment to the independent eyecare channel and increasing the size of the community it serves to 12,000 independent eyecare professionals (IECPs) across all 50 states. The acquisition was completed on July 27. Financial terms were not disclosed. PECAA was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2006 by three independent optometrists. Over the past 15 years, the company has grown from a small, Northwest based organization to one of the nation’s premier doctor alliance groups serving nearly 2,000 independent ECP members.