MILAN—The board of directors of Luxottica Group (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX) announced today that the company finished its 2015 fiscal year with strong momentum, and also announced that Luxottica founder and chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio will take on executive responsibilities for Markets and that Adil Mehboob-Khan, CEO for Markets, is leaving the company.

Luxottica posted adjusted net sales of more than €9 billion, a 17 percent increase over the prior year. Luxottica’s wholesale division’s net sales grew 12.5 percent to €3.6 billion, or 6.9 percent at constant exchange rates. Luxottica’s retail division’s adjusted net sales climbed 20.3 percent to €5.4 billion euro, or 4.5 percent at constant exchange rates. Comparable store sales rose 3.9 percent, the company said.

Khan is leaving the company as a board member of Group, after working alongside Massimo Vian, Luxottica’s CEO for Product and Operations for the past year.

“Khan’s profile and international experience enabled him to contribute to the Group’s excellent 2015 financial results and to the deep simplification process started across businesses and geographies in late 2014,” the company said in a statement.

Vian will continue in his present role, the company said. The co-CEO structure at Luxottica was established in October 2014, when Mehboob-Khan was named co-CEO, as VMail reported.

“I’m really grateful to Adil who, with great passion, empathy and professionalism, joined the Group in this phase of profound transformation and extraordinary growth,” said Del Vecchio. “His international experience and knowledge of markets and customers have strongly benefited the company and his contributions will have an impact in the years to come. The entrepreneurial spirit and speed of action that have always distinguished Luxottica, bring us today to simplify our organizational structure.

“My decision to take on executive responsibilities and more actively contribute to Luxottica’s management comes from the awareness that a renewed entrepreneurial spirit is critical today to properly face this new market scenario and to fast-track the evolution in the Markets area. This is to guarantee that growth, efficiency and investments remain our long-term priorities. We closed another year of record results and start the new one with great enthusiasm. We are well-equipped to manage a global agenda that is becoming more complex but also full of opportunities.”

Khan said, “It has been an absolute privilege to work alongside Massimo and Mr. Del Vecchio in such a strong, beautiful company, exemplary in its global presence. Massimo is a manager of great talent and I have shared with him every moment of the last 12 months, establishing not only a fruitful business partnership but also a true and sincere brotherhood.

"I am thankful for the unique opportunity of knowing and working closely with an extraordinary and visionary man such as Mr. Del Vecchio: I have a great admiration and affection for him and what he has accomplished. I will continue to root for Luxottica and the executive team, which has every advantage and capability to lead one of the best companies in the world.”

Vian commented, “I thank Adil for a very intense year, of great change and success, as we led the Group side by side. I have learned a lot from his approach to the business and I wish him great success in his future endeavors. Because of our accomplishments over the past year, Luxottica is looking ahead with confidence, benefitting from a simpler and solid structure, closer to our chairman. We are all focused on the start of the year, which we expect to be rich in initiatives. We continue to be a leading actor in our key markets.”

The Wholesale and Retail divisions both performed well, for the year, the company said, contributing to full year results with an increase respectively of 12.5 percent and 20.3 percent on an adjusted basis over 2014 results. The Group saw major increases in e-commerce revenues, which were up 50 percent, a strong growth of the wholesale business in all geographies and notable performance from its top retail chains.

Sunglass Hut confirmed it remains a leader in the sun category worldwide with double-digit growth in total sales for the fifth consecutive year: +24.6 percent with Australia, Continental Europe, Brazil and Mexico as the leading performers.

The company noted that LensCrafters in North America strongly contributed with comparable stores sales up by 4.3 percent. The Retail business reported strong results notwithstanding that the fiscal calendar of the division in North America was nine days shorter than in 2014, corresponding to approximately €90 million in sales.

In 2015, North America proved to be one of the key growth engines for the Group, with adjusted net sales increasing by 22.9 percent. The Wholesale division’s net sales increased by 25.3 percent for the year. The company said it successfully completed the integration of Oakley eyewear in its organization.