MILAN—The board of directors of Luxottica Group S.p.A. (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX), have released the consolidated net sales and preliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2014 and the full fiscal year 2014. Additionally, the company confirms the formal appointments of Adil Mehboob-Khan as CEO for Markets and Massimo Vian as CEO for Product & Operations, which VMail reported on Oct. 22, 2014.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, Luxottica’s adjusted net sales grew by 14.9 percent reaching €1.9 billion, as compared to €1.6 billion for the same quarter 2013. Luxottica attributes some of this increase to a favorable exchange rate effect. The wholesale division saw growth of 9.3 percent, from €644 million in 2013 to €704.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. The retail division recorded an increase of 18.5 percent to €1.2 billion in Q4 2014, up from €1.0 billion for the same quarter 2013.

Luxottica closed fiscal 2014 with an increase in adjusted net sales of 5.3 percent, to over €7.6 billion, up from 2013’s €7.3 billion. The wholesale and retail divisions both contributed to the company’s strong results, growing by 6.8 percent and adjusted 4.3 percent, respectively. The proprietary and licensed brands portfolio has proven a key success factor, the company said. Ray-Ban, in particular, continued to record double-digit growth. These results were also driven by the performance of Luxottica’s major retail chains, especially Sunglass Hut’s sustained growth worldwide and LensCrafters’ progressive quarterly sales improvement, according to Luxottica.

The appointments of Adil Mehboob-Khan and Massimo Vian, entrusted with all executive responsibilities, marks the completion, according to the plan outlined in October 2014, of the group’s organizational change process aimed at providing it with governance that is better aligned to the global competitive landscape and able to fully grasp all growth opportunities, the company said.

“We are proud of the results for 2014, which show increased sales in all the geographic areas in which we operate, and a further improvement in the profitability of the group and of both divisions,” said Vian. “Also in 2014, careful management of working capital generated exceptional cash flow, considerably exceeding the amount generated in 2013. Based on these results, we look forward to 2015 and the following years with enthusiasm and renewed energy to capture all the available opportunities, with the aim of doubling net sales in the next 10 years. We warmly welcome Adil Khan, who joined our team in early January.”

Added Khan, “My congratulations to the team for what has been achieved in 2014. Luxottica has confirmed the robustness of its business model beating the overall market trends and continuing its track record of growth, both with wholesale partners as well as with its retail network. We have many great opportunities to further leverage the brand portfolio, our technology edge, our integrated supply chain, in 2015 and beyond. I look forward to partnering with Massimo and the impressive team at Luxottica.”

The main growth driver for the group’s net sales in 2014 was North America, the company said, the performance of which can be attributed to the continuing appreciation of American consumers for Luxottica’s eyewear collections and confirms the strength of the business in both traditional and newer channels for this category, such as department stores and e-commerce. Concerning the fourth quarter results, the impact of the 53rd week on the retail business generated net sales of approximately €60 million. Throughout 2014, total comparable store sales in North America grew by 3.3 percent, or 5 percent during the fourth quarter.

LensCrafters confirmed a progressive improvement in comparable store sales, which increased by 1.8 percent in 2014 and 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Sunglass Hut showed the strength of its business model in the holiday season as well, reporting a 7.4 percent increase in comparable store sales in 2014 and 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

Luxottica also announced that a tax audit by the Italian tax authorities in respect to the 2008 tax year has ended with a tax audit report based on the same claim made with reference to the 2007 tax year regarding transfer pricing policies, which claims the company accepted in December 2013. As a result, Luxottica has agreed to pay approximately €29 million to settle the 2008 tax year claim.

The audit relates to ordinary transactions involving the export of finished products from Italy to the group’s foreign subsidiaries, located in countries that do not have a privileged tax regime. Consequently, the audit only concerns income that has been regularly taxed at the foreign subsidiary level. Luxottica has agreed to accept the findings in the tax audit report and pay the sums claimed for the 2008 tax year.