Retail overview

In the fourth quarter, the Retail Division showed signs of recovery, due in large part to the actions put in place in 2009. In terms of comparable store sales⁽¹⁾, in the fourth quarter the "optical prescription" business in North America rose by 1.6% (posting positive results for the first time in eight quarters) with a small but significant improvement by LensCrafters (up by 0.1% for the quarter and by 2.6% in the November-December period, with positive performances across all States in the US) and particularly positive results by Sears Optical and Target Optical (up by 11.0% for the quarter).

Sunglass Hut, the Group’s sun specialty chain that operates globally, posted comparable store sales(1) for the quarter almost in line with the previous year, with strong performances in South Africa and the UK and continuous improvement in North America (up by 1.3% in the November-December period).

During the first three quarters of 2009, retail results in the Asia Pacific region were constantly better than those of other geographic regions. For the fourth quarter, comparable store sales⁽¹⁾ for the region contracted when compared with the same quarter from the previous year, which had been a positive period for the region.

Sales for the quarter were Euro 700.6 million, when adjusted for the additional week of sales⁽²⁾, up by 3.4% at constant exchange rates and down by 4.1% at current exchange rates. For the full year, sales were Euro 3,131.3 million adjusting for the additional week of sales⁽²⁾, up by 2.2% at current exchange rates and down by 1.8% at constant exchange rates.

⁽¹⁾ Comparable store sales reflects the change in sales from one period to another that, for comparison purposes, includes in the calculation only stores open in the more recent period that also were open during the comparable prior period, and applies to both periods the average exchange rate for the prior period and the same geographic area.
⁽²⁾ In 2008, the fiscal year for the Retail Division in North America included 53 weeks; in 2009, the fiscal year for the Retail Divisions in Asia Pacific, Greater China and South Africa included 53 weeks.