NEW YORK — Bolstered by strong sales in North America and Europe, eyewear supplier Safilo Group posted robust pretax earnings for the second quarter.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization climbed 26.2 percent in the quarter to 49.1 million euros, or $62.7 million, as sales jumped 11 percent to 281 million euros, or $358.8 million. Dollar figures are at the average exchange rate.
By region, sales in Europe (excluding Italy) soared 33.7 percent in the quarter. North American sales showed a 33.2 percent gain. Sales in Italy rose 17.7 percent. The Padua, Italy-based company’s top-performing branded eyewear collections in North America were Dior, Gucci and Liz Claiborne.
For the six-month period, the net profit soared 500 percent to 24 million euros, or $30.6 million, on a sales gain of 10.9 percent to 562 million euros, or $717.7 million. EBITDA for the period climbed 24.7 percent to 97.7 million euros, or $124.8 million.
“Such results are a demonstration of the fact that the group has sustainable growth objectives and is continuing along the road to renewed performance that we expect will be confirmed and improved on during the second half of the year,” said Roberto Vedovotto, chief executive officer of Safilo Group, in a statement.
The company also said in its statement that it has extended its license agreement for the Dior and Dior Homme brands until 2010.