By Elisa Anzolin
PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) – The head of EssilorLuxottica expressed confidence a push into medical technology would eventually drive a recovery in the market value of the world’s largest eyewear group, after contributing to the sharp drop seen in recent months.
Speaking at the group’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri listed other factors behind the share price fall of more than 40% from record highs hit in November: U.S. tariffs, the weakness of the dollar, spreading military conflicts and competition on smart glasses.
Finance chief Stefano Grassi quantified in 300 million euros ($351 million) the impact from U.S. tariffs last year.
Milleri said investors had not fully understood EssilorLuxottica’s expansion into the medtech sector, which he described as a necessary transformation.
“We were too big to remain … (confined to) this small market,” he said, referring to the group’ s traditional spectacle frame and lens business.
“We are really pushing to go back to the (price) position that we deserve … but, at the same time, it will take some time to achieve that”, Milleri said.
AUDIO SEGMENT SEEN AS A GROWTH AREA
EssilorLuxottica’s market value has shrunk to 86 billion euros from 150 billion in November, when it reached a record high thanks to investor bets on smartglasses which EssilorLuxottica develops in partnership with Meta Platforms.
Since then, however, growing competition in the segment has tempered investor enthusiasm.
Milleri said AI-powered glasses remained a key pillar for the group’s strategy and played down concerns about rising competition.
“A few big players have made product announcements generating buzz, but we haven’t seen any real competing products on the market so far,” he said.
He pointed also to the audio segment as a major growth area for EssilorLuxottica, with new products beyond Nuance Audio glasses, spectacles that incorporate hearing assistance for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, Milleri said EssilorLuxottica had even weighed a possible investment in Italian hearing aid maker Amplifon , but had not pursued it.
($1 = 0.8551 euros)
(Editing by Valentina Za and Mark Potter)
