General Optical has reported losses of $10,176,956 in its Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 December 2014. The company’s revenue from continuing operations declined from $16,830,838 in 2013 to $9,557,320 in 2014.
General Optical and Marchon Australia, now owned by Vision Service Plans (VSP), is led by Country Manager Brad Safin and Managing Director Jonathon Lewis following the retirement of its founder and CEO Peter Lewis.
A statement issued by VSP said, “Over the past twelve months, GenOp has experienced positive growth in our business, and we remain confident this progress will allow us to continue to support the industry in the midst of a fluctuating economy and challenging marketplace. Our biggest change was that we became a wholly owned subsidiary of VSP Global. This speaks to VSP’s commitment to our region and brings additional resources to our organisation. In addition, we have added eleven new health funds over this past year, which means that approximately 620,000 health fund members now have the ability to choose a VSP network optometrist as an in-network provider, with an estimated total number of health fund members reaching more than 5.8 million.
“One key factor that impacted the business this past year was Marcolin’s acquisition of Guess, a brand that GenOp had been distributing since 1998. Since this change, we have expanded our lens business substantially and added to our portfolio of eyewear brands to include Cole Haan, Etro, Marni and MCM. We are taking the steps needed to ensure our organisation continues to provide support to help independent optometrists compete successfully in a demanding market, and we’re enthusiastic about the future.”
