Vision Express returned to the black for the first time since 2016 as its sales jumped towards the £400m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
The Nottinghamshire-headquartered company has reported a pre-tax profit of £7.9m for 2023, having posted a pre-tax loss of £173,000 in 2022, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.
The last time Vision Express achieved a pre-tax profit was the £17.8m it reported in 2016. Since then the business has lost almost £90m.
The new results also show that its total turnover increased from £345.3m to £384.5m over the year.
Vision Express, which operates more than 400 stores across the country, increased its UK turnover from £344.9m to £379.6m in 2023 while its sales in the rest of the world rose from £372,000 to £4.8m.
During the year the average number of people employed by the company decreased from 3,796 to 3,638.
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A statement signed off by the board said: “The inflationary economic environment continues to put pressure on the company, through increased cost of goods supplied and employee costs.
“The economic environment also impacts on our customers and the company has looked to support customers via the offering of more flexible payment solutions.”
Vision Express added: “Company performance continues to strengthen and this improvement, along with the resilience of our business model and unique value drivers, mean the directors remain confident in the future trajectory and outlook for the company.
“The integration into the EssilorLuxottica family continues at pace and is bringing significant synergy benefits to Vision Express.”
It also said: “As a result of the resilience of the business mode, our ongoing commitment to such, the directors remain confident that the company will continue to see improvements in underlying performance.”
The results for Vision Express come after the UK results for its ultimate owner, EssilorLuxottica, revealed its turnover increased from £165m to £168.1m in 2023 while its pre-tax profits fell from £9.8m to £7.4m over the same period.
The group is headquartered in Italy and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
It was founded by Leonardo Del Vecchio in 1961 while it also owns the likes of Sunglasses Hut and brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol, Oliver Peoples, and Oakley.