Safilo: Q3 and 9 Months 2020 Trading Update

Wednesday, November 4 2020 | 11 h 02 min | Financial News, Press Release

The Board of Directors of Safilo Group has reviewed and approved Q3 and the first nine months 2020 economic and financial key performance indicators.

In the third quarter of 2020 Safilo’s sales and economic results recorded a significant recovery compared to the severe downturn experienced in the first half of the year following the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent, extensive lockdown measures.

Q3 2020 net sales reached Euro 219.1 million, growing by 3.0% at current exchange rates and 6.0% at constant exchange rates compared to the same quarter of last year, with the key positive drivers represented by the significant rebound experienced by the wholesale market in North America, and the full-quarter contribution deriving from the recent acquisitions of Blenders Eyewear and Privé Revaux as reported in Optik NOW. The latter, together with the continuing progress recorded by Smith’s D2C sales and by the Group’s business generated through internet pure players, propelled Safilo’s total online sales to around 16% of Group total turnover.

In the third quarter, the positive sales development and the ongoing implementation of the Group’s cost saving actions and contingency measures allowed Safilo to return to a positive adjusted EBITDA of Euro 14.3 million, up 9.3% compared to the same quarter of 2019.

Angelo Trocchia, Safilo Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“After we were heavily impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak and the consequent global lockdowns between the first and the second quarters of the year, in the third quarter our business had a positive reaction reflecting, on one side, the sales rebound recorded in July as an expected catch-up effect after the strong H1 pandemic impacts, and, on the other side, a dynamic US market continuing into August and September, making North America the main driver of our recovery.(…)”

The recovery of Safilo’s organic business in the third quarter of 2020 was driven in part by a strong performance in North America, where the Group’s organic revenues were up 12.1% at constant exchange rates, mainly thanks to the solid sales recovery experienced by independent optical stores. All of Safilo’s core licensed brands, from Kate Spade to Tommy Hilfiger to Jimmy Choo, enjoyed a solid momentum driven by the growth of the prescription frames business.

The quarter in the market was a strong confirmation for Smith products, which recorded double-digit growth in the sports store channel and more than doubled their turnover in online channels.

In the third quarter of 2020, the organic online sales grew around 94% at constant exchange rates, thanks to the aforementioned growth of Smith’s D2C business and the Group’s sales through its internet pure players.

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