Before Losing Dior, Safilo Eyes New Brand Partners

MILAN, Italy — Italian eyewear group Safilo is working to sign up new brand partners by the end of this year, well before it loses its Dior licence at the end of 2020, Chief Executive Angelo Trocchia told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Dior has decided not to renew its licence with Safilo when it expires. The brand owner, French luxury giant LVMH, is expected to licence the brand instead to a joint venture it has with Marcolin, a rival to Safilo.

"We are working on renewing existing licenses and expanding the portfolio with new licenses by the end of the year," Trocchia said.

Dior accounted for 13 percent of Safilo revenues in 2018 and the news dragged the company's share price down 6 percent.

The current trading "is in line with what we have set for the year", which is sales growth of 2 to 4 percent, Trocchia added.

Safilo said in a statement on Monday that would present a new business plan by the end of this year. "It will be a three-year plan starting from 2021 and it will be probably presented between October and November," Trocchia said.

By Claudia Cristoferi; editor: Mark Bendeich.