Safilo is also struggling with the economic impact of the Corona pandemic. Based on the upturn in business in July, the performance in August and the preliminary data for September, management expects a mid single digit growth in total net sales for the third quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
Safilo has acquired a majority stake in US brand Blenders Eyewear in 2019 (Photo: Safilo)
The main factors contributing to the better sales performance (compared to the previous estimate of a moderate decrease) were the more muted slowdown in the wholesale business, mainly due to the continued recovery of the North American independent optician market and the strong progress of Smith’s online business, and a larger than expected contribution from the Group’s direct-to-customer business, in particular the recently acquired brands Blenders and Privé Revaux.
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For the full year 2020, the Safilo Group is still not in a position to provide a new forecast, as there is still considerable uncertainty about the evolution of the Covid 19 pandemic, currently exacerbated by growing concerns about a possible second wave of infection.
Additional liquidity for Safilo
In mid-September Safilo Group S.p.A. announced the signing of a new credit facility for an amount of 108 million euros to provide Safilo S.p.A. with additional liquidity to finance working capital and investment needs for activities located in Italy and to support Safilo at a time when the recovery of the industry is still characterised by a high degree of uncertainty.
SACE will guarantee 90% of the new loan to Safilo, which was taken out in accordance with the “Decreto Liquidità” adopted by the Italian Government on 8 April 2020 and converted into a law by Parliament as part of the extraordinary measures to deal with the economic and social consequences of the Covid 19 outbreak.
SACE S.p.A. is an Italian credit insurance company based in Rome. It is a public limited company specialising in export credit insurance and export risk guarantees. It is wholly owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which in turn is 80% owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. SACE is an important instrument of Italy’s foreign trade policy.
Facility: Borrowed from Facility first used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 1952 for short-term loans to its member states. More specifically, it was a stand-by facility.
