Luxury eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica has today reported a rise in fourth-quarter revenues, citing sound growth amid a challenging environment, but its performance in China declined because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The maker of Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses posted a 9.4% rise in revenues to €6.11 billion in the final quarter of the year at current exchange rates.
The French-Italian eyewear group said Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) was its best performing region in the quarter due to solid sales growth in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Scandinavia.
Sales in the region grew 6.2% at constant exchange rates to €2.09 billion.
However, the Asia-Pacific region grew by only 3.1% to €731m as performance crumbled during the quarter when China was hit by a severe Covid-19 wave, the group said in a statement.
Luxury peer Hermès HRMS.PA on the other hand said last week that wealthy Chinese clients snapped up its products in the fourth quarter, helping it beat sales and margin forecasts.
The likes of French luxury giant and Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH and Swiss jewellery company Richemont have also benefited from the resilience of their wealthy customers against the cost-of-living crisis.
EssilorLuxottica proposed raising its dividend to €3.23 per share, up 29% on last year.
