40th listing anniversary Essilor

Essilor celebrates its 40-year anniversary on the Paris Stock Exchange. Laurent Vacherot, Chief Operating Officer, opens the European trading day in Paris.

Marking 40 years on the stock exchange on October 28, 2015, Essilor celebrates a unique human, industrial and commercial adventure driven by a shared mission uniting nearly 60,000 men and women worldwide that started 170 years ago.

A pioneer through major advances in ophthalmic optics (the invention of the progressive lens, organic lens and organic photochromic lens), Essilor has made innovation and a strategy of partnerships its pillars of growth. Since 1975, revenues have multiplied by more than 60, the number of employees by 8, Group companies have increased from 20 to more than 650 and its stock price has risen on average 16% per year.
Multi-local, the Group and its partners are present in 75 countries with industrial and commercial activities close to eyecare professionals in order to better meet the specific needs of local consumers.

Improving lives by improving sight: a key challenge. At the heart of Essilor’s strategy, this mission guides the work of teams around the world. Committed every day to advancing visual health, the Group’s employees lead many actions that aim to improve the access of 7.2 billion people on the planet to correction, protection and prevention. To serve the 2.5 billion people who don’t have solutions for their visual needs, the Group has developed new products, services and innovative distribution models. In January 2015, Essilor also created Vision For Life, a fund aiming to accelerate initiatives that combat poor vision in the world.