By Elisa Anzolin
PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) - The head of EssilorLuxottica expressed confidence that the Franco-Italian eyewear group's shares can recoup the ground they have lost due to U.S. tariffs and the dollar weakness, spreading military conflicts and competition on smart eyeglasses.
Speaking at the annual general meeting on Tuesday, EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said shares have also been suffering because of an ongoing push into the medtech sector, which he described as a necessary
transformation for the group.
"We were too big to remain framed in this small market," he said, referring to the traditional business of spectacle frames and lenses.
Once completed the medtech transformation will bear fruit, supporting a recovery in the share price, he added.
Shares have lost over 40% of their value since hitting a record high in November driven by investor enthusiasm for its AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
Since then, however, investors have been fretting about growing competition in the category limiting EssilorLuxottica's first-mover advantage.
Milleri downplayed the concerns saying that "a few big players have made product announcements generating buzz, but we haven't seen any real competing products on the market so far."
EssilorLuxottica has been working with Meta Platforms since 2019 to develop smart eyewear, producing successive generations of Ray‑Ban‑branded glasses that integrate cameras, audio and artificial‑intelligence features.
"We are really pushing to go back to the (price) position that we deserve ... but, at the same time, it will take some time to achieve that", Milleri said.
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Valentina Za)
