Eyewear player Inspecs reports revenue decline

Inspecs Group, a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of eyewear reported a revenue decline of 7.3 percent to 103 million pounds. On a constant exchange basis, revenue decreased by 5.2 percent to 105.4 million pounds.

Gross profit for the period improved by 100 basis points to 52.4 percent, while underlying EBITDA decreased to 10.1 million pounds and diluted underlying EPS to 2.72 pence.

Commenting on the first half financial update, Richard Peck, CEO of Inspecs, said in a statement: "The group has made steady progress during the period, with significantly improved gross profit margins delivered across all divisions and strong cash generation. We have achieved sustainable cost savings through the ongoing implementation of operational efficiencies, particularly in the US, and we will continue to undertake further initiatives during the second half.”

"Trading in the second half to date has exceeded the prior year and our order books are ahead of last year as of the end of August. Whilst we remain cautious in relation to market conditions and focused on the delivery of our cost saving initiatives and planned shipments in Q4, the board is confident in meeting market expectations for the full year," added Peck.

During the period under review, Inspecs launched an eyewear brand into all stores of a major global retailer. The company also added two retail chains in the US and an optical retailer in Canada as distributing partners.

Travel revenue increased by 45 percent during the first half driven by continued push into key global outlets, while lenses segment revenues rose by 25 percent.

The company also completed the construction of the new Vietnam manufacturing facility and integrated Inspecs USA.