BATH, England—Inspecs Group plc (LSE: SPEC), a global eyewear and lens design house and manufacturer, presented its unaudited interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2023. This is the first set of results in the Group’s new reporting currency of GBP, the company noted, reporting that group revenue increased by 6.1 percent to £111.2 million (compared to H1 2022: £104.8 million in the first half of 2022). On a constant exchange rate basis, revenue increased by 2.3 percent to £107.2 million (compared to £104.8 million in first half 2022).

The company said operating profit increased by 25.1 percent to £4.6 million (compared to H1 2022: £3.6 million in the first half of 2022) while gross profit margin was 51.4 percent. Underlying EBIDTA increased by 5.4 percent to £12.1 million (compared to £11.4 million in the prior year comparable period).

Cash generated from operations was £11.5 million while net debt excluding leasing was £22.7 million  (compared to £27.6 million at Dec. 31, 2022).

Inspecs Group said it sold 6.9 million eyewear frames in the first half of 2023 compared to 6.2 million in first half of 2022. The company cited strong revenue growth in the U.K (+20 percent), North America (+9 percent) and LATAM (+277 percent) and reported substantial growth of low vision aids revenue in North America (+19 percent) with sales of £5.9 million in the first half.

Inspecs said construction of the new Vietnam manufacturing facility commenced in May 2023, with scheduled completion in H1 2024. It said Norville losses were reduced substantially in the first half of this year compared to the prior year and that it completed license renewal on key licensed brands such as Marco Polo and Ted Baker. 

Inspecs said it saw significant growth in commercial activity within Skunkworks, the Group’s research and development division and good progress against objectives outlined in its ESG framework.

Richard Peck, CEO of INSPECS, said, “The Group has made steady progress during the period, with an improved trading and cash generation performance. We remain focused on achieving operational efficiency gains and continue to identify integration opportunities across our global trading platform. Construction of our new manufacturing facility in Vietnam commenced in May 2023, with expected completion in H1 2024. Once fully operational, this will increase the manufacturing capacity of the Group to circa 12 million units per year."

He added, "Trading in the second half to date has been in line with our expectations and our order books remain at a good level. Whilst we remain cautious in relation to global economic and political events, we remain confident with our full year outlook.”

Inspecs customers include global optical and non-optical retailers, global distributors and independent opticians, with its distribution network covering over 80 countries and reaching approximately 75,000 points of sale.