Essilor-Luxottica (EL) Investment Analysis
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Rubik Portfolio Management Essilor-Luxottica (EL) Investment Analysis Emmanuele Luca Varrati Filippo Bonani Alberto Loconsole Francesco Lorenzi Francesco Giovanni Paganin Lorenzo Paliotta Federico Panariello Overview: .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Industry analysis: ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Countries (see exhibit n.1): ............................................................................................................................... 3 Markets: ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Porter's five forces analysis: ............................................................................................................................ 5 Industry Rivalry: Low. ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Bargaining power of customers: Low. .............................................................................................................. 5 Bargaining power of suppliers: Low. ................................................................................................................ 5 Threat of new entrants: Low. ............................................................................................................................. 5 Threat of substitutes: Low. ................................................................................................................................ 5 Company analysis: ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Board and executives: ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Products and services: ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Corporate culture: .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Investment case: ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Key performance indexes: ................................................................................................................................ 7 Appendix: .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 2 Essilor – Luxottica(ES) Overview: Luxottica Group S.P.A. was founded in Italy by Leonardo Del Vecchio, in 1961. Nowadays it is the largest eyewear company in the world, with more than 40 proprietary brands in its portfolio (for instance: Persol, Ray-Ban, Prada, Valentino), 82.358 employees and 900 million euros of net profit (registering an increase of approximatively 127% from 2008). Furthermore, Luxottica went from 5,202 billion in 2008 to 8,292 billion in 2018 experiencing constant growth, except for FY2018: indeed, in 2017 Luxottica registered 9,184 billion euros of net sales, 255 million more than in 2018. Del Vecchio’s company is currently ranked fifth in sales in the Top 100 luxury goods companies. Luxottica doesn’t own only eyewear brands: indeed, it also owns some of the biggest eyewear retail stores in the world, such as Sunglass Hut, Oakley, and Salmoiraghi&Viganò. Luxottica’s retail network includes approximatively 9.000 stores. Until 2016 Luxottica’s market share was 14% worldwide, while Essilor, the second-largest company in the eyewear industry, held 13% of the market share. In January 2017, Luxottica and Essilor agreed to merge: the merging operation was completed in October 2018 (one of the biggest mergers of all time), giving birth to the group “EssilorLuxottica”, with an estimated 30% market share worldwide. The group registered on Paris stock market, reached a peak stock price of 144,65 on the 17th of January 2020. However, the price fell shortly after because of the Coronavirus outbreak and other related factors that led to worldwide stock market losses of billions of dollars. On the 16th of March 2020, the price of EssilorLuxottica stock had dropped as low as 95,2. Industry analysis: Countries (see exhibit n.1): The main and almost unique market in which the group operates is global eyewear, whose market value is expected to be $141.3 billion by 2020. Actually, due to current coronavirus’s impact on consumption, it will be lower, however, taken the pandemic aside, the industry is expected to grow significantly in the future, due to the increasing number of ophthalmic disorders and cases of computer vision syndrome (CVS), caused by the excessive focus of the eye on display devices. The WHO estimated that 1.3 billion people were suffering from some form of visual impairment in 2018. Another interesting trend is the increasing utilization of sunglasses as a fashion accessory. Customers are now looking for glamour, other than usefulness. Companies like Burberry, Prada, and Versace have already entered the market by giving licenses to produce sunglasses under their brand. Contact lens are a recent innovation in the eyewear industry. Worth 12.79 billion in 2019, is anticipated to grow at a 5% average till 2027. The good aspect of contact lens is that they don’t cannibalize spectacles sales: people affected by eye diseases still need to have at least a pair of glasses. Rather than a substitute, contact lens are a supplement. People buy them for reasons concerning the exterior aspect, or for their utility when practicing sports. Retail still compose a big part of sale channels for eyewear products. E-commerce is gaining sales shares, but it is still under 25% of the total.Markets: The activities performed by the group are highly diversified, divided and organized by categories of products offered and by area into which the firm operates. The different business groups are: Wines & Spirits, Fashion & Leather Goods, Perfumes & Cosmetics, Watches and Jewelry, Selective retailing and Other activities. To best analyze the different markets in which LVMH operates, because of its diversified structure and culture, it is useful to analyze each business group separately. 3 Porter's five forces analysis: Industry Rivalry: Low. Thanks to high market concentration, companies in the eyewear industry don’t compete over price to gain market share: the potentially acquired market share wouldn’t offset the negative impact of profits lost. The industry is growing at a high annual rate so that firms can expand their revenues without hurting profits. To be profitable, firms need to run at full capacity due to the high fixed costs of production facilities. Hence expanding capacity is not contemplated by existing players. Products are highly differentiated, so the competition on price couldn’t be enough to gain higher market shares. Thus firms don’t take on these practices. Bargaining power of customers: Low. The eyewear industry is highly concentrated. Just EssilorLuxottica has around 30% of the global market shares. This market dominance has lead to high price markups, as admitted by an insider. Product differentiation reduces the bargaining power of buyers even further, as Luxottica products are highly regarded and difficult to imitate or outshine. However, the average consumer hasn’t a high disposable income, so that he may be price sensitive. Bargaining power of suppliers: Low. Luxottica is vertically integrated. The company develops its products and has control over the production and distribution chain. Hence, it directly produces its eyewear and it directly distributes them to customers. In this way, it is able to have quality control and to offer good customer service. The only supply it receives from external companies is raw materials. Since these are standardized products, they are priced at the market. Threat of new entrants: Low. The economy of scale is a significant barrier to new entrants, as significant fixed assets and capital are essential to achieve a cost advantage. Companies like EssilorLuxottica are active globally, with production facilities mainly in Italy and Asia and 4 distribution centers strategically positioned to serve major markets. Product differentiation is another feature that prevents new firms to enter the industry. Significant R&D and advertising expenses are behind eyewear products, in order to offer a high-quality and glamourous product. Moreover, the brand is highly regarded by customers. Threat of substitutes: Low. There aren’t substitutes for the products offered by EssilorLuxottica. Hence, consumers aren’t likely to switch to substitutes. Company analysis: Board and executives: The Luxottica governance system is based on a traditional management and control system which accounts for a Shareholders' Meeting, a Board of Directors and Board of Statutory Auditors. The Luxottica corporate board is characterized by a Board of Directors, responsible for the management of the Company: Leonardo del Vecchio: Executive Chairman and its team composed of two deputy chairman, a director and an executive director, appoints