Padua, November 13, 2013 – The Board of Directors of Safilo Group S.p.A. today reviewed and approved the results of the third quarter and first nine months of 2013.
Building on the encouraging results in the first six months of 2013, Safilo’s business made further progress in the third quarter.
Organic growth effectively offset the double negative impact on Net Sales resulting from the termination of the significant brands phased out in 2012 on the one side, and the depreciation of several key currencies versus the Euro on the other.
At constant exchange rates, sales were up 2.9% in the third quarter, whilst being in line with last year for the first nine months of 2013.
The Group’s gross and operating profit continued to grow in the third quarter from the same period of 2012, by 180 and 50 basis points respectively. Combined with a decline in net interest expenses, this has enabled Safilo to report a profit in the third quarter for the first time since 2007.
At the end of September net debt had fallen further compared with 30 June 2013, reflecting positive cash flows during the quarter. This has reduced the adjusted2 financial leverage to 1.5 times.
Luisa Delgado, new CEO of Safilo Group, commented:
“In this first opportunity as executive Director, I would like to start by thanking all employees and partners of Safilo, our customers, and shareholders for believing in Safilo’s potential and resilience, and supporting the company’s turnaround to date.
The results for the first nine months of 2013 show that we are about on track to deliver the year’s core objective, i.e. to off-set the loss of the Armani licence using our wide brand portfolio and strong customer relationships, while strengthening our gross and operating margins, and focusing on strong cash flows.
The results also show our further opportunities: Expanding “where we play” by building our own proprietary portfolio and our geographical footprint, and Sharpening “how we win” with further differentiated commercial and product supply strategies, simplified operations and e-enabled global integration.
What makes Safilo special is our superior product, design and innovation, as well as our proven ability to partner with the most prestigious Brands across the world. At Safilo, we share a genuine passion for eyewear, its traditional savoir faire and its opportunities for surprising creativity.
Our commitment to generate sustainable profitable growth forward is based on combining our historical strengths and leveraging systematically our opportunities with a long term view.”