PADUA, Italy—The board of Safilo Group has examined and reported the Group’s preliminary net sales for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2020. The Board will approve the full year annual results on March 11, 2021. Safilo’s preliminary net sales equaled €780.3 million, down 15.2 percent at constant exchange rates and 16.9 percent at current exchange rates compared to €939 million recorded in 2019. This is due to the sharp decline suffered in the first half of the year following COVID-19 lockdowns.

In the second semester of 2020, Safilo’s net sales grew by 4.5 percent at constant exchange rates, due to the business rebound recorded in the third semester and the Group’s sales increase in the fourth quarter, notwithstanding the negative impacts of the second pandemic wave.

Safilo’s Q4 net sales amounted to €225.6 million, up 3 percent at constant exchange rates (-2.1 percent at current exchange rates) compared to €230.4 million recorded in the same quarter of 2019. This positive sales performance also reflected the progressive improvement of the Group’s wholesale business in Q4, which recorded a more moderate decline, equal to -1.6 percent at constant exchange rates, from -5.5 percent in Q3. In addition, the acquisitions of Privé Revaux and Blenders Eyewear added a total of €14.1 million to the Group’s North American business.

Safilo’s online sales also progressed significantly in Q4, standing at around 12 percent of the Group’s net sales, from around 4.5 percent in the same period of 2019. This is due to Blenders’ and Privé Reveaux’s e-commerce activities, and to an organic sales growth of +60.9 percent at constant exchange rates, driven by Smith’s D2C channel and by the Group’s sales generated through internet pure players. In 2020, Safilo’s online sales, including acquisitions, accounted for around 13 percent of the Group’s total net sales, from around 4 percent in 2019.

Net sales performance in the fourth quarter allowed the Group to continue the recovery of earnings which began in the third quarter. In value terms, the positive adjusted EBITDA achieved by Safilo in the second half of the year is expected to fully offset the significant loss suffered in the first half, allowing the Group to return to break-even in the full year.

On a preliminary basis, at the end of December 2020, the Group’s net debt is expected to be around €179 million (pre-IFRS 16), compared to €155.8 million at the end of September 2020.