Outlook for 2009

Outlook for 2009

Shareholders,
In 2008, our Company once again posted excellent results: with record sales of Euro 5.2 billion and net income of around Euro 400 million, Luxottica continued to be a world leader, even in times as difficult as last year.

Credit for this goes above all to the undisputed force of our business model, based on integration between efficient manufacturing platforms, a brand portfolio of the very first order, a highly structured and extensive distribution system, a network of over 6,250 retail locations worldwide and, not least, the successful integration with Oakley, which has already begun, after only one year, to yield major synergies that demonstrate the soundness of the operation.

These are strengths that we continued to develop, even in a year as difficult as 2008, which started with growth and ended in a slowdown. It’s worth noting, however, that we operate in an industry that’s proving resilient: in 2008, in fact, we did not see high growth rates, but neither did we see any unexpected negative swings. Above all, the prescription eyewear business, in which we are a world leader, did not show evident signs of slowing down.

Over the year, Luxottica managed to react effectively and rapidly. As macro-economic conditions changed, the Group promptly took measures designed on one hand to boost sales and on the other to improve efficiency by adapting our cost structure to the new environment.

2008 was a challenging year but we are convinced that we made our Company even stronger and laid the foundations for further long-term growth, and this without compromising Luxottica’s commitment to helping the needy, for whom we launched OneSight, the global foundation that combined the Group’s existing charity structures.

With 20 years of experience, during which nearly seven million people have been helped, OneSight is engaged in recovering and recycling used eyewear, organizing international and local missions clinics to distribute eyewear free of charge, and in the prevention of eye diseases and support for research. These are priority objectives that reflect our deep sense of social responsibility and help us move closer to our ultimate aim: people’s visual well-being and satisfaction.

April, 2009

Del Vecchio