Luxottica posts flat H1 results as it waits on Essilor merger

Ray-Ban owner Luxottica posted broadly flat first-half sales and adjusted operating income as it awaits a Chinese go-ahead this month for its merger with France’s Essilor.

Milan-based Luxottica, the world’s biggest eyewear manufacturer, is merging with the top lens producer to create a 54 billion euro (48.06 billion pounds) industry leader.

Luxottica said it was evaluating with Essilor the timing for the closing of the merger as it finalised discussions with Chinese and Turkish antitrust authorities.

The two companies last month pushed back to July 31 a deadline to close the deal which had been agreed in January 2017.

Luxottica confirmed its 2018 outlook after reporting a 0.5 percent rise, at constant currencies, in operating profit for January-June adjusted for restructuring and one-off charges.

Net sales rose 0.3 percent at constant currencies as a streamlining of wholesale clients and adverse weather patterns weighed on Europe while previous commercial restructuring started bearing fruit in North America and China.