CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—Essilor International (Reuters: ESSI:PA) posted consolidated revenue of €1,962 million for the first quarter of 2017 ending March 31, a 10 percent increase over year ago. The company said the like-for-like growth of 2.4 percent, was due in part to a strong performance by its lenses and optical instrument group, which rebounded in the U.S. and a robust performance in equipment.

Newly acquired companies such as the Photosynthesis Group (MJS) in China and MyOptique Group in Europe increased revenue by 4.6 percent, according to Essilor.

“Essilor continues to deliver with its growth model, which is based on innovation, local partnerships and its mission to improve the visual health of the world’s 7.4 billion inhabitants,” said chairman and CEO Hubert Sagnieres. “The performance from the beginning of the year has been in line with our annual plan, supported by improved growth in the United States and China and the contribution from acquisitions, despite an anticipated decline in the sunglasses & readers division. The deployment of growth initiatives across our businesses in corrective lenses, sunwear and e-commerce, along with the launch of new products should lead to renewed momentum in the coming quarters.”

During a conference call with financial analysts, Laurent Vacherot, Essilor co-COO, said the company has not seen a significant impact on sales as a result of its pending merger with Luxottica, announced in January. The deal, which is expected to close in 2017, is currently under review by international regulatory authorities.

Essilor reported that sales of lenses and optical instruments in North America grew 2.3 percent in like-for-like terms against a relatively high Q1 2016 comparison base. Essilor’s core U.S. lens business grew more quickly than the North America region and improved sequentially compared to Q4 2016 levels, the company said.

According to Essilor, the improved results were driven by “the execution of key strategic initiatives across independent optometrists and key accounts. With respect to independent optometrists, this included the ongoing deployment of new offers for members of the alliance service platforms, Vision Source, PERC/IVA and Opti-Port, which continued to gather momentum through increased membership and enrolment in service and supply chain programs.”

Growth of Crizal and Eyezen lenses was dynamic, Essilor noted. E-commerce activities in North America posted like-for-like sales growth of around 10 percent, driven by eyeglasses sales and reflecting “a substantial progression in sales for EyeBuyDirect, solid delivery from Frames Direct and improved trends in Clearly, Essilor said. Although Transitions trademark lenses sold through Essilor networks expanded, the quarter was negatively impacted by the ongoing decline of Transitions sales to other lens manufacturers, notably Zeiss and Hoya.

Sales of sunglasses and readers sales fell 2.2 percent like-for-like terms in the first quarter due to “a highly unfavorable comparison base for FGX International, which had benefited from a significant new contract at one key account in North America over the first quarter of 2016,” Essilor said.

The company reported that its Costa sunglass unit had a satisfactory start to the year with strong sales growth despite lackluster momentum in sports stores. Costa continues to establish the brand in new points of sale, including eyecare professionals as it proceeds with the development of the prescription segment, Essilor noted.