CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—EssilorLuxottica (Reuters: ESLX.PA) reported Friday that consolidated revenue including GrandVision—which was consolidated since July 1, for the third quarter only—totaled €14.2 billion in the first nine months of the year. On a comparable basis, consolidated revenue amounted to €5.4 billion in the third quarter ending September 30 and €15.9 billion in the nine months, up 9.3 percent and 6.2 percent respectively at constant exchange rates versus the same periods of 2019, according to the announcement.

EssilorLuxottica noted that due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a comparison with 2020 figures for both the third-quarter and the nine-month periods is not relevant. Consequently, the company's compared its net sales performance with 2019.

Francesco Milleri and Paul du Saillant, CEO and deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica, said, “We are proud of the revenue performance our company delivered in the third quarter of the year, keeping the pace of the fast recovery already posted in the second quarter. Including GrandVision, in its first quarter of consolidation into the Group, EssilorLuxottica’s comparable revenue grew even faster, at 9.3 percent versus pre-COVID levels at constant exchange rates.

"Moreover, while accelerating in revenue, our company has materially expanded its margins, proving to which extent it can operationally leverage the business growth. This has led us to upgrade once again our outlook for the full year, now pointing to a more material operating margin lift. Such a sound performance is driven by the company’s omnichannel and open business model, its new integrated commercial initiatives and its rich innovation pipeline, all at the heart of its long-term strategy.”

EssilorLuxottica’s revenue, excluding GrandVision, totalled €4.4 billion in the third quarter, up 9.0 percent at constant exchange rates compared with the same period of 2019, and up 3.5 percent at current exchange rates. In the first nine months revenue amounted to €13.2 billion, up 6.8 percent at constant exchange rates compared with 2019, and up 1.1 percent at current exchange rates.

GrandVision’s third quarter revenue climbed to €1.06 billion, a 5 percent increase over the same period in 2019 based on constant exchange rates. For the nine-month period, GrandVision’s revenue totaled €2.9 billion, a 0.1 percent increase at constant exchange rates versus 2019.

EssilorLuxottica’s Professional Solutions division, which includes the supply of products and services to third-party eyecare professionals and which represents its wholesale business, posted €2.5 billion in revenue during the third quarter, up 7.3 percent at constant exchange rates compared with the same period of 2019, and up 1.5 percent at current exchange rates.

The Direct to Consumer division, which includes the sale of products and services directly to end consumers and which represents the company’s retail business, comprised of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, also experienced solid growth during the third quarter. The division’s revenue reached €1.8 billion million, up 11.6 percent at constant exchange rates compared with the same period of 2019, and up 6.2 percent at current exchange rates.
 
Brick-and-mortar comparable-store sales were overall positive, broadly in line with the pace of the second quarter, supported by double-digit growth in North America and Latin America. The optical and sun categories both contributed to the overall growth, with the main banners growing from high-single to double digits.

Speaking to analysts on Friday, EssilorLuxottica CFO Stefano Grassi said that growth in both online and brick-and-mortar boosted the performance of the Direct to Consumer division. “The online business continues to march at an extremely strong pace. The physical retail footprint continues to be more productive as we develop an omnichannel proposition.” Grassi commented, “I think with the investment that we’re doing on the sun part of the business, but also on the optical side of the business, you will see that evolution, especially in LensCrafters.” 

E-commerce revenue rose by almost 50 percent at constant exchange rates in the quarter, reaching 8 percent of the company’s total turnover year to date, reflecting a normalization in traffic mix between digital and brick-and-mortar in a context of reopening. Ray-Ban Stories, the smartglasses launched in partnership with Facebook on September 9 with an omnichannel distribution approach, started with promising sales data and provided the online business with an additional driver, EssilorLuxottica said. 

Performance in all the regions was positive at constant exchange rates, with third-quarter revenue for North America reaching €2.4 billion, up 14 percent over 2019 at constant exchange rates versus the third quarter of 2019, and up 8 percent at current exchange rates, making it the company’s best performing region, particularly regarding e-commerce. In North America, both the Direct to Consumer and Professional Solutions divisions grew double digits in the quarter, supported by the increased level of integration at the company level and the effective execution of its multichannel and multicategory strategy.

In Professional Solutions, key accounts were the main driver, mainly thanks to national customers, while independent ECPs continued to grow, helped by a progressing EssilorLuxottica 360 initiative. Third party e-commerce grew fast as well, fuelled by bigger accounts.

In lenses all the main brands were positively contributing, including Varilux, Crizal, Eyezen and Transitions, while Ray-Ban and Oakley both posted double-digit growth and luxury brands continued to grow fast in frames. The performance of the brick-and-mortar stores confirmed the sound trajectory started in March, with comparable-stores sales up 10 percent versus the third quarter of 2019, led by higher conversion rates and better price-mix.

In optical LensCrafters and Target broadly kept the pace of the second quarter, up high-single digit, while Sunglass Hut continued to leverage its top-end proposition and a favorable trend in demand, growing in the mid-teens. The e-commerce business expanded by almost two-thirds versus 2019, still driven by all the main platforms, Ray-Ban.com, Oakley.com, SunglassHut.com and EyeBuyDirect.com. EyeMed revenue continued to grow, with a nice progression in memberships. 

Based on its third quarter results, EssilorLuxottica upgraded its full year 2021 guidance, which now points to mid-to-high single digit growth in revenue versus 2019 at constant exchange rates from “mid single digit” and an up-to-100 basis points progress in adjusted operating profit as a percentage of revenue compared to 2019 at constant exchange rates. These targets exclude GrandVision, the company noted.