Eyewear group revenue up 15% amid expansion
Designer eyewear group Inspecs has reported “good progress” for the first half of the year, as it continued to expand its global distribution reach and production capability.
The Aim-listed company, which is headquartered in Bath, saw group revenue rise to £120.9m during the six months to June 30 – up 15% at constant exchange rates from £104.4m a year earlier.
Inspecs – which designs, manufactures and distributes frames and lenses to a network of opticians and retailers spanning 80 countries – has completed a series of acquisitions over the past two years.
These include deals for German frames distributor BODE Design, global design and licensing company Ego Eyewear, German competitor Eschenbach and the manufacturing arm of Norville, after the Gloucester-based glasses company went into administration.
Group EBITDA – a measure of profitability – increased to £11.8m in H1 2022 from £8.2m in H1 2021. Operating profit was also up, £4.8m compared to £2m a year earlier. Underlying EBITDA of £12.5m was down from £13.9m in June 2021.
The firm made a return to overall pre-tax profit for the period with around £660,000. After tax this turned into a £2.3m loss – narrowed from a £3.1m loss in the first half of the last financial year.
Inspecs bosses said the relocation of the Norville factory to a new site in Gloucestershire had incurred “additional downtime and costs”, but was now “fully operational and increasing production”.
Chief executive Robin Totterman added construction of Inspecs’ new factory in Portugal and expansion of production capacity at its site in Vietnam was expected to begin later this year. Production at the new facilities is scheduled to start towards the end of 2023, with distribution to follow in 2024.
Mr Totterman said: “Our group order books are ahead as of June 30 2022 compared to June 30 2021, and we enter the second half of the year in a good position. Whilst we remain cautious of the overall economic outlook for the UK and European market, we remain focused on executing a number of strategic priorities that will increase production, enabling us to bring innovative new products to market and continue to deliver shareholder value.”
Inspecs’ global operations also include offices in Scandinavia, the US and China, as well as a manufacturing site in Italy.
In its full year results for 2021, the company reported a narrowed loss after tax of £4.4m, a 39% reduction from the £7.3m accrued in 2020.
We enter the second half of the year in a good position Robin Totterman