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November 12, 2019November 12, 2019

New Look Vision Reports Solid Q3 Results

New Look Vision Group reported financial results for the period ended September 28, 2019 (“Q3 2019”).

Q3 2019 Financial and Operational Highlights

• Revenues increased by 2.1% over last year to $74.4 million.

• Comparable store sales orders were up by 1.6% compared to the third quarter of last year, marking the 21st consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth.

• Adjusted EBITDA attributed to shareholders reached $14.4 million, an increase of 3.3% over last year and 3.4% on a per diluted share basis to $0.92.

• Net earnings attributed to shareholders remained flat at $0.31 on a per diluted share basis.

• Adjusted net earnings attributed to shareholders increased to $6.9 million and on a per diluted share reached $0.44, an increase of 4.8% over the same quarter last year. The increase was driven by improved EBITDA.

• Cash flows related to operating activities reached $13.5 million, an increase of 42.3% over last year and increased 41.0% on a per diluted share basis to $0.86.

• The long-term debt was reduced by $5.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 through voluntary and contractual repayments, improving the net debt to adjusted EBITDA attributed to shareholders ratio to 2.56, compared to 2.88 in the same period last year.

• The quarterly dividend payment to shareholders of $0.15 per share was maintained.

Year-to-date Financial and Operating Results

• Year-to-date revenues and adjusted EBITDA attributed to shareholders reached a record $223.9 million and $41.6 million respectively, which represent increases of 1.8% and 2.1% respectively over last year. Comparable store sales orders year-to-date were up 1.9% over last year.

• The increase in the number of stores year-to-date reflects the acquisition of ten stores net of five scheduled store closures.

• Net earnings attributed to shareholders were $13.7 million or $0.88 per diluted share, compared to $11.1 million last year or $0.71 per diluted share.

• Adjusted net earnings attributed to shareholders increased to $18.2 million, $0.6 million over last year. Adjusted net earnings attributed to shareholders(a) reached $1.17 per diluted share, up 3.5% from $1.13 in 2018.

• Cash flows related to operating activities reached $36.3 million, an increase of 32.5% over last year and increased 32.6% on a per diluted share basis to $2.32.

President & CEO’s comments

Antoine Amiel, the President and CEO of New Look Vision, stated that: “The second half of the year is off to a solid start, as New Look Vision delivered its 21st consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth, improved earnings and healthy cash flows. We continue to focus on achieving operational synergies and to explore profitable growth opportunities in the consolidating Canadian retail optical sector”.

Click HERE for the full press release.

November 9, 2019November 9, 2019

2019 Vision Institute Conference Marks Leadership Turnover, Celebration and a Dedication

The Vision Institute of Canada (VIC) kicked off its 3-day Annual Fall Conference and Trade Show Friday November 8^th, dedicated to the memory of Dr. Catherine Chiarelli, who passed away earlier this year following a courageous battle with cancer.

The conference provides 20 hours of Category A continuing education lectures.

This year’s conference marks the retirement of Dr. Paul Chris as Executive Director of VIC after 15 years. Following the key note address by comedian Rick Green, co-founder of the Red Green Show and member of the Order of Canada, Dr. Mira Acs, President of VIC Board of Directors, presented Dr. Chris with a painting by First Nation’s artist Leland Bell from the Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario.

Dr. ACS presents a special award to Dr. Chris. Click here to watch the video
Tony Jocko, Dr. Chris, Dr. Calder. Painting by Leland Bell
Click to view Video

Throughout Dr Chris’s tenure at VIC he has been a driving force for raising awareness about the issue of preventable vision loss that is occurring due to the epidemic of diabetes affecting Canada’s First Nation, Inuit and Metis people.

Dr. Chris was joined on stage by Tony Jocko of the Anishinabek Nation (Union of Ontario Indians), the recipient of the 2019 CAO Vision Champion award. Jocko, a Federal Health Policy Analyst, has been a dedicated advocate for improved access to quality vision care services for First Nations Communities and has worked collaboratively with VIC to bring much needed in-community vision care services to the children in First Nations elementary schools.

The appointment of new Executive Director of VIC, Frances MacCusworth, was announced. MacCusworth brings a wealth of experience with health professionals associations in fundraising drives, conference planning and sponsorship programs, with nearly 20 years of executive experience with the Ontario Occupational Health Nurses Association.

Dr. Acs confirmed to Optik that this year’s attendance included 346 Optometrists and 60 Optometric Assistants, surpassing 2018’s numbers.

Mark your calendar for the 2020 Conference: November 6–8 at the Markham Hilton Conference Centre.

November 8, 2019November 8, 2019

2019 World Sight Day: A Global Success at Essilor

Just like every year since 2012, World Sight Day, which fell on October 10 this year, was commemorated at Essilor. Employees, partners and suppliers across continents gathered together to mark the most important awareness and advocacy event on the global eye health calendar and spread the word about the importance of good vision.

Through hundreds of initiatives, World Sight Day was an opportunity for the Group to celebrate and renew its commitment to improving lives by improving sight.

This year, for its global corporate campaign, Essilor placed the spotlight on the fight against myopia. Myopia rates continue to worsen globally, as 5 billion people, approximately half of the world’s population, are expected to be myopic by 2050. Today, public awareness on myopia remains limited, leading to poor predictability and restricted treatment, with significant consequences on people’s quality of life. This is why Essilor’s campaign had two core targets: parents – to check their children’s vision – and young adults. This was set in motion with the objective to raise awareness of the global epidemic and invite people to check and correct their vision regularly and to adapt their daily habits accordingly.

Once again, Essilor’s employees proved to be a real driving force throughout the day with events, lab visits for children and young adults, eye tests, donations of spectacle frames, school visits to educate on myopia and more, further reinforcing the campaign messaging. These initiatives proved to be a tremendous success across Essilor’s global sites and cities.

Watch this video to discover a few amongst hundreds of initiatives carried out within the Group as well as partners and suppliers.

World Sight Day 2019 in figures

+50,000 participants
+70 countries
+82 entities
+35,000 onsite vision screeningeye tests
+30,000 online vision screening tests on www.putvisionfirst.com

Click HERE for the full press release.

November 8, 2019November 8, 2019

Michelin and Essilor Join Forces for Safer Mobility

Michelin and Essilor announced the signature of a two-year collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding.

As part of their mobilization around World Sight Day 2019, Michelin and Essilor today announce the signature of a 2-year collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding. The collaboration aims at joining forces to widely reach the public and raise awareness on the importance of good vision on the road as well as good functional tyres reliable up to the wear indicator.

Poor vision and tyres in a bad state of use are two main risk factors for road safety, related to the human factor on one side and to one of the key performance features of the machine – the tyres that connect it to the road – on the other side.

90% of the information needed on the road comes from our eyes, and yet it is estimated that 1 out of 5 drivers in the world suffers from uncorrected poor vision, usually due to a lack of awareness or to limited access to vision care.

In parallel, around 1 in 2 cars rolls with under-inflated tyres and around 1 in 10 cars rolls with tyres that are beyond the wear limit, which can lead to punctures or accidents.

This is why this partnership between both companies plans on:

Increasing awareness campaigns on a global and country scale, through eye screenings and tyre check-ups for employees, customers and the public at large;
Providing innovative services to facilitate access to the appropriate equipment to consumers, through the leveraging of both Michelin and Essilor’s respective expertise.

Both partners are already strongly involved in independent respective actions to promote safe mobility.

Click HERE for the full press release.

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019

FYidoctors | Visique Acquires Grimard Optique

FYidoctors | Visique announced on November 7 the acquisition of Grimard Optique — a Quebec-based vision care and retail chain with 22 locations.

Grimard has been serving Canadians for over 39 years with the majority of their locations in Quebec along with several in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The company employs 148 staff members who are dedicated to providing optimal quality eye care to its patients and are excited to continue doing so. With this acquisition, FYidoctors | Visique will now boast over 290 locations across Canada – 70 of which were added in 2019 alone.

“I am thrilled to continue our aggressive growth with the acquisition of Grimard,” said said Dr. Alan Ulsifer, CEO and Chairman of FYidoctors | Visique. “Specifically, I am excited about the strength it will now give us in Montreal – the sixth fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada and the United States. It is of critical importance for us to add value and provide solutions to clinics that join our family and we deliver that through financial strength and systems in place. We have worked extremely hard building the scalable infrastructure that allows us to realize this potential and are delighted with pace we are now growing at. This is just the beginning.”

Grimard locations will continue to operate under their current banner for the immediate future while FYidoctors evaluates how to merge the existing brand into the FYidoctors | Visique family. For patients who have recently purchased products and/or services from Grimard, warranties and guarantees will remain to be honoured under the ownership change.

“The Grimard Optique team is delighted to join the FYidoctors | Visique family,” said Robert Grimard, President of Grimard Optique. “Both our organizations share the same vision for what eye care should be, making this a move which feels very natural. FYidoctors | Visique has shown impressive growth in the Canadian market and with the addition of Grimard Optique, they have solidified their presence in Quebec.”

Click HERE for the press release.

New Look Vision Reports Solid Q3 Results

2019 Vision Institute Conference Marks Leadership Turnover, Celebration and a Dedication

2019 World Sight Day: A Global Success at Essilor

Michelin and Essilor Join Forces for Safer Mobility

FYidoctors | Visique Acquires Grimard Optique

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