Bath-based spectacles designer and manufacturer Inspecs today said it was in a strong position to take advantage of weaknesses in its industry despite a 32% drop in revenue.
The firm made two major acquisitions last year, using part of the £23.5m it raised when it floated on the London Stock Exchange’s junior Alternative Investment Market 11 months ago.
In a full year trading update to shareholders today it said its trading performance for the year to December 31 was in line with management’s expectations, delivering group revenue of $46.2m against $61.2m in 2019.
The pair of acquisitions had contributed $7.3m (£5.3m) to its revenues and had significantly increased its lens manufacturing and frame distribution capacity, it added.
Last December it snapped up German firm Eschenbach Optik for €94.85m (£84.78m) in a move that propelled it to as position as one of the world’s leading eyewear companies.
Four months earlier Inspecs, based in Bath’s old Gas Light and Coke building on Upper Bristol Road, had bought historic UK spectacle lens company Norville for £2.4m after it fell into administration.
The acquisition of the Gloucester-based firm, which had been in business for more than 120 years, added the country’s two oldest and most-respected optical brands – Norville and Algha, the East London frame maker which once made millions of glasses for the NHS and now produces the Savile Row brand – to its portfolio.
Inspecs today said Norville had been fully absorbed into the group while the integration of Eschenbach Optik was progressing to plan and showing encouraging early signs.
“We now look forward to working with the Eschenbach Optik team to drive the identified synergies and boost Inspecs’ global footprint and brand portfolio,” it added.
Inspecs CEO Robin Totterman, a former bond trader who launched the business in 1988 after he failed to find a pair of glasses he liked, said: “Whilst 2020 was an extraordinary year for a number of reasons, it was a milestone year for Inspecs with the company successfully listing on AIM in February and subsequently completing two acquisitions.
“Welcoming Norville and Eschenbach Optik to the group significantly increases our global distribution and lens manufacturing capability, enabling us to penetrate key global markets, broaden our customer reach, and strengthen our brand portfolio.
"Although the global pandemic continues, the group is in a strong position to capitalise on the compelling structural opportunities that exist in the fragmented global eyewear market.”
Inspecs produces a broad range of predominantly mid-market and entry-level priced frames for spectacles, sunglasses and safety glasses with operations across the globe, including factories in Vietnam, China, London and Italy.
It is expected to publish its full year results for 2020 in May.
