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March 23, 2018April 24, 2018

Essilor Academy Canada Launches New 2018 Training Program

Essilor Academy Canada has launched a new series of webinars to help eye care professionals across the country adapt to an ever-changing marketplace and consumer needs. The brand-new program brings together all of Essilor Canada’s training activities and includes nine webinars based on three pillars: Growing Your Business, Make Your Life Easier and Be the Eye Care Expert.

Essilor Academy Canada listened to the requests of ECPs from coast to coast and built on the very successful formula introduced in 2017. The 22 webinars and online courses presented last year in French and English, live and recorded, generated more than 4000 views. The new 2018 program will incorporate the same format used in 2017 and provide new learnings to promote continuous development amongst ECPs.

New Content in 2018

The newly launched program shares information on current industry topics, engaging participants and motivating eye care professionals to act on the learnings. Each webinar is 30 minutes or less. The schedule for 2018 content is as follows:

April 17: Trends in Style – Introducing Transitions and sunwear innovations
May 15: Luxury Trends – A guide on to how to sell luxury
June 19: Eye health and wellness – UV capsules, blue light, etc.
September 18: Tips and tricks for recommending and ordering Products
October 16: Prescribing in the chair
November 20th: Surprise guest
December 18: Planning a successful 2019

Essilor Academy Canada’s Optics 101-The Basics online training series, perfect for newcomers to the industry and for those who want to update their knowledge, is also available now. Other types of online training will also be made available to participants throughout the year.

A Comprehensive Training Program

Based on Essilor Canada’s solid training experience, Essilor Academy Canada’s programs are designed to promote motivation and passion in learning in order to maximize implementation and produce rapid results. In addition to the webinars, the program includes in-office training and large-scale events such as the Roadshow, Alive Summit / MBA and Varilux Vision Summit Trip. A wide variety of topics are covered, from sales to team management and business development, to customer journey engineering and the basics of optics, innovation and technology.

Registration for the 2018 webinars and the Optics 101-The Basics online training series are open now. To register or for any questions you may have, please contact Essilor Academy Canada by email at: essilor.academie@essilor.ca.

Click HERE for the full press release.

March 22, 2018April 24, 2018

Edge Ahead Without Compromise

Essilor Technologies’ Pro-E^TM 600 edger is designed for productivity with a holistic approach to finishing lenses, combining traditional wet edging with the versatility, precision, and speed of milling.

For more information contact your local Essilor Technologies Territory Manager, call us directly at: 1-888-337-1429, ext. 1, or email us: info@essilortechnologies.ca .

March 22, 2018April 24, 2018

New Look Vision Reports Q4 Results and Year End for Fiscal 2017

New Look Vision Group Inc. reported financial results today for the 13 and 52 weeks ended December 30, 2017 (“Q4 2017” and “fiscal 2017”). This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s management discussion and analysis (the “MD&A”) and consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2017, which are available on the Company’s website at www.newlookvision.ca/investors and have been posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Q4 2017 Financial and Operational Highlights

Revenues reached $67.5 million and adjusted EBITDA reached $12.5 million for Q4 2017, representing increases of 23.9% and 28.3% respectively over last year. The revenue increase was mainly due to the net addition of 159 stores to the network in the last twelve months as well as same store sales growth of 2.8% over last year.

This revenue growth, along with improvement in the materials consumed ratio, resulted in the strong adjusted EBITDA performance. As a percentage of revenues, adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased 70 basis points to 18.6%. Depreciation and amortization expenses increased as a result of the acquisition of IRIS and capital investments made on the Company’s stores and laboratories.

When adjusted for acquisition-related costs and other non-comparable costs, adjusted cash flows from operating activities were $12.2 million or $0.80 per share, an increase of $2.4 million, or 25.1% over last year.

On October 24, 2017, the Company acquired Iris, The Visual Group (Iris), with 147 stores. Results of this acquisition, for 10 weeks, are included in the results for the fourth quarter and year end for Fiscal 2017.

Year-to-date Financial and Operating Results

Year-to-date revenues and adjusted EBITDA reached a record of $229.2 million and $42.1 million respectively, which represent increases of 15.4% and 19.1% respectively over fiscal 2016.

Adjusted net earnings attributed to shareholders, which is net earnings adjusted to remove the impact of depreciation, acquisition-related costs, equity-based compensation, and other non-comparable costs were $25.4 million, or $3.0 million over last year. Adjusted net earnings per share (diluted) increased to $1.78, up 9.9% from $1.62 in 2016. Comparable store sales year-to-date were up 2.6% over last year.

Antoine Amiel, the President and CEO of New Look Vision, stated that: “With the Q4 results, the 2017 year ended on a very strong note for the group. This and other positive operating and financial factors throughout the year as a whole are concrete evidence of the success of our strategic growth plan in recent years, both organically and by acquisition, as well as our ability to generate synergies across our expanding network.

In the fourth quarter, we completed the acquisition of Iris with its 147 locations which gives us a strong optometric based platform to build from in this sector of the consolidating Canadian retail optical industry. We look forward to working with their management team,partners and franchisees in the coming years.

Subsequent to quarter end, we welcomed on board Tania M. Clarke, as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.”

Click HERE to read the full press release.

March 22, 2018April 24, 2018

CNIB Invites Candidates to Apply to Its Boards of Directors

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind is inviting applications/nominations from outstanding community or business leaders for multiple Board Director appointments to the CNIB National Board and the Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada Board in 2018.

Each member of our boards is a dedicated advocate for the rights of Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Many of our board members, themselves are living with blindness or significant sight loss. Board Directors are enthusiastic ambassadors for the organization and our mission, building our reputation with participants, partners and donors.

If you are a community or business leader who is passionate about changing what it is to be blind or partially sighted today, and are prepared to play a critical role at a transformational moment in CNIB’s future, they want to hear from you. The ideal Board Director will live and breathe CNIB’s values, which include innovation, empowerment, inclusiveness, passion, integrity and collaboration. They will have a personal connection to and/or a commitment to CNIB’s success, its mission, vision and values and the Canadians CNIB serves.

To explore these dynamic Board Director opportunities, please contact Lisa Heidman LL.B., ICD.D at lisaheidman@arlingtonpartnersinc.com. A detailed copy of the board position profile will be provided to all interested candidates.

Source : CNIB

March 22, 2018April 24, 2018

Vision Expo East Reports Strong Show

Vision Expo East has wrapped up its 32^nd year amid a lively celebration with more than 190 new of the 715 total exhibitors, an attendance increase in multiple key audience categories – including buyers, optometrists, opticians and contact lens technicians – and successful new events across all four days.

Buying activity was reported as strong as the quality of attendees, with the Show boasting the attendance of over 300 new and 1,200 total OPTImum program members this year.

Vision Expo East 2018 saw a 22% increase in Opticians and Contact Lens Technicians, on hand for the new OptiCon @ Vision Expo programming including a full lineup of Pop Up Talks, celebrity appearances, and social events in the debut OptiCon @ Vision Expo Hub, as well as a new slate of education sessions designed for these audiences.

For the first time at Vision Expo East, attendees voted for their favorite exhibitors in two categories. The winner in the category of “Most Creative Booth Design” was De Rigo REM. The winner in the category of “Best Use of Technology” was Canada’s own Kuusoft Corporation (see story on Infoclip HERE).

Outside of the Exhibit Hall, the optical industry was fully engaged with the Show via social media, with 5.36 million impressions from the Show’s accounts and many more interacting with attendees and exhibitors directly. Adding another 70,000 social impressions was Vision Expo’s partnership with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) for a panel, Eye on Design: An Exclusive Talk with Influential Eyewear Designers.

As Vision Expo East 2018 came to a close, Trade Show News Network (TSNN) announced that the Show has been once again named to their list of Top Trade Shows in the United States for 2017. A complete list of TSNN’s top 250 trade shows can be found at www.tsnn.com/toplists-us.