EssilorLuxottica SA

PAR:EL

Earnings Call Transcript 2018-Q3

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

So good afternoon, everyone. I am here with Laurent, Hilary, Véronique and the team to welcome you to our Q3 conference call. So as you know, this call is to comment the performance of Essilor International and only Essilor. Because as you know, the Q3 revenue to end of September refers to a period which is prius to our combination with Luxottica. And as you have seen, Luxottica, which is still a separate listed subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica Group for now, has published its own separate press release today to comment on its Q3 performance. So you have seen, all of you, the results, one of our best quarters in our recent history. And I am sure you have noticed also the acceleration of our organic growth, very consistently versus over the past 2 years, quarter-after-quarter. So unfortunately, I can't see your faces today. But let me tell you that around here, in front of me, on my left, on my right, we have a lot of smiles and a lot of energy because, really, this is a great achievement and a great achievement of all the Essilor team. Under the leadership of Laurent, while at the same time I was engaged and very busy with the merger, Laurent Vacherot and his team, they have done an outstanding job bringing back the performance of Essilor to its highest level.So this being said, let me, as an introduction and before giving the mic to Laurent, sharing with you my -- let's say, my analysis, my view on this outstanding performance.First, this illustrates really the growth momentum of the ophthalmic market, and both in Eyezen, in the mid-tier and the entry level, the 3 segments in which Essilor is actively present. This market momentum, as you know, itself is driven by an acceleration in the prevalence of every eye defect, as well as an increasing awareness of consumers about the need to correct and protect their vision. And this increased awareness is, in turn, the results of all the initiatives taken by Essilor to expand the demand everywhere in the world. So really, Essilor leverages its market momentum by implementing the growth strategy, first of all, on the deployment of this brand and business model at every price point, from Varilux and Transitions to the high end to 2.5 NVG at the entry level and with many intermediate solutions in the mid-tier. So we are developing the distribution of these solutions, both online and offline because the consumer today switches constantly from one to the other. And we do the same with our Sun brands which focused on mid-tier or premium mid-tier because that's where the biggest market volumes can be found.The second key pillar of our growth strategy as you know, but it's even more true for this year, is our innovation at every price point. Laurent will share with you the great success of our products that have been launched at the end of 2017 and in 2018. We launched the lenses and the frames that the optical market desires, and we constantly innovate on designs and visual solutions. But as you know, all this strategy, all our actions were implemented, directly derives from the Essilor mission of improving lives by improving sights, which as you know, have been enlarged since October 1 into the mission of EssilorLuxottica Group, see more, be more and live life to its fullest.So as you know, we are now accelerating all our projects around the world, step-by-step, accomplishing our goal of eradicating poor vision from the world by 2050. You know, all of you, some of you, you know our business model Eye Mitra, like the Eye Mitra in India or in Bangladesh. But now we have developed similar models in Africa and namely under the name Eye Rafiki in Kenya. And now, much more also starting from a year in Indonesia, we are training thousands of Mitra Mata to improve the vision that they have in Indonesia. We are hosting, by the way, also this week, the first convention of Mitra Mata in Medan in Sumatra with thousands of them that will graduate and develop their optical businesses locally.Other key events following our missions is really this week, for the first time we are developing the first joint event actually between Essilor and Luxottica, between the Essilor Vision Foundation and OneSight, the foundation of Luxottica, to screen and equip hundreds of people in need for better vision in Thailand and, more specifically, in refugee camps at the border of Myanmar. So again, full of affections, great team, outstanding products, outstanding brands and at the end of the Q3, Essilor is stronger than ever and ready to work with all the Luxottica team to build together the leader that the optical industry needs.With this, I give the mic to Laurent to go more in details on the figure and the strategy of Essilor for the first part of the year.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Well, thank you, Hubert. And good morning and good evening, everyone. So thank you for your kind words, Hubert. And obviously, what I will share with you are the results now, the results of all the teams, not just mine. And once is not -- I will mention some of the name so our guest could put a face on the activity we are doing.So I will share my reading of the Essilor performance at the end of this third quarter. I will give you also at the end a little bit of our perspective for our the end of the year and for 2019. Basically, as a matter of fact, we saw in Q3 the continuation, with some acceleration of the positive trend I extend to you in July when commenting the H1 figures. Basically again, our growth strategy continue to create value. And in a nutshell, if we -- if you should remind, a few key highlights of this first -- of this third quarter. Full momentum in the U.S., improvement in Europe, solid double-digit growth in China, high single digit in Brazil. At the moment, outgrowing markets which you know are our leader in Latin America, Ernesto Díaz and in AMERA by Eric Bernard, do a present -- a solid contributor to the growth of the group. It's now 25% of the total sales in Q3 and growing double digits.In Sun & Readers, which is a division led by Eric Thoreux, they have delivered a record quarter growing at 11%. E-commerce division, well led by Bernard Nuesser, is close to -- will grow, sorry, will [ gross ] to its EUR 500 million this year, growing about 15% on a steady and regular basis. Also, as you have seen the bolt-on acquisition strategy has been reactivated with a long list of very interesting potential.So the figures now, as you have seen the Q3 has reached EUR 1.8 billion, [ a repeat and all ], at 4.4% on a reported basis with 5.6% ex currency and a like-for-like growth reached 5%, well above the annual Essilor objective which is around 4%. So with a like-for-like growth of 4.3% with the first 9 months, we are confident that Essilor will reach its full guidance with respect of its corporate consolidation of September 30.I would like now to give you a little bit of highlight of some key business successes sustaining the present and the future dynamic of Essilor. So in the lens business, which as you know is led by Paul du Saillant, we continue to benefit of the ongoing traction of our key products with Crizal, Varilux, Transition volume accelerating growth in Q3, all growing mid-single digit in Q3. We -- I think we need to thank Norbert Gorny, which is the Head of R&D and also Chrystel, which is the new Head of Transition Optical, thanks to them and their team, we see the dynamic of the new products.Innovation continues to be a key driver for the growth of Essilor. And actually, Essilor Innovation has been again, this year, recognized at the Paris optical fair called the SILMO with 2 awards. We don't speak a lot about Instruments and Equipment, but this time, we go to [ Newark ] for a new refraction instrument called Vision-R 800. Seem strange to you? Those are the machine that you see at the optometrist when you go to have an eye check or ophthalmologist or optician, depending on the country, where they can measure your eyes and define what prescription you need. This new device, which has been invented by the Instrument division led by Christophe Condat, is around 2x faster and 25x more accurate than the existing equipment. Those equipment made also the eye exam more consumer friendly and far less dependent from the operator than all the others. It's quite important, you may think why Laurent is speaking about this instrument [ improvement ] but obviously, the growth of our industry, as you know, is linked obviously to awareness but also to improve access. And with such an equipment, we can increase access drastically in fast-growing market but also because of more precise measurement in all the markets. So with this equipment progressively year-after-year, we increase access to eye exam in the coming years and provide more precise prescription, which is a totally unmet need at the moment, and is extremely important to manage the evolution of the eye [ pathology ].The second and new one -- the second innovation that has been awarded is a product, the new lens called Blue [ Experts ], and this new lens offer protection against UV and the blue light at the more affordable price, totally in line with the Essilor strategy to bring innovation at every price point for the benefit of the most -- of the consumers. Actually, since the invention of Crizal Prevencia, which is the first clear blue protection lens invented 5 years ago, in the -- in those 5 years, we invented and put on the market all the product at every price point for UV protection and blue protection.If we look now at the geographies, as I said at the beginning, all the team led by Arnaud Ribadeau Dumas in China posted solid double-digit domestic growth, both in Essilor lens at the high end but also, as we mentioned, in the mid-tier of the market that our partner serves. Also, we start to speak more and more with myopia, we'll come back to that at the end of the presentation. The right sort of solution for myopia management provided an extra boost in this quarter, alongside with the consumer rebound in Latin America and strong growth in [ last ] country like Turkey or Russia, a fast-growing market, good double-digit as I've told you earlier. In Europe, which is led by [ Henrique Schrogen ], which came to Essilor 1.5 years ago, I would like to mention the solid growth in France, in Northern Europe, in East Europe and a better momentum in Germany. In Northern Europe, we benefit from a very fruitful commercial partnership with a leading global -- leading regional chain called Synsam. This changed its position to promote added-value vision solution and we agreed jointly to invest in marketing to raise consumer awareness. And not only do we go fast with this retail change in Sun, but also a strategy as a visible traction impact on the rest of the market.Also in Europe, we just started to deploy the new Crizal Sapphire in the course of the quarter. So it should be a strong growth generator for the coming quarters. In the U.S., we had a change of leadership during the summer. Eric Leonard, which was the President of EoA, came back to France actually to take the role of Chief Integrator Officer, Chief Integrator [ Strength ] Officer on the Essilor side for this beautiful combination we will build. And Rick Gadd became the -- in the summer, the President of Essilor of America. What we see in the U.S. at the moment is first the market which is recovering at a much better dynamic with -- in Q2, volume growing at 2% as you think about the market. We don't yet have the figures for Q3, but it seems it's the tendency which should be sustained. We continue the ultimate [ and expected ] strategy that we launched 1 year ago, combining Crizal and Transition and with [ Asia ] Varilux and Eyezen. So myopia and presbyopia consumers, they have access to full benefit on the same lens. And the interesting effect of this offer is that this has been driving growth, strong growth volume for all our brands in the U.S., Zeiss volume and Transition volumes are up solid single digits in Q3.We also have continued to build the Essilor Experts network, and we are now close to 4,000 optometrists per class, which means we nearly doubled the number of Essilor Experts in the last 9 months, which is very promising for the growth of the end of the year and 2019. Also, we signed a very interesting commercial partnership with UnitedHealth Vision (sic) [ UnitedHealthcare Vision ], one of the leading vision managed care in the U.S. and part of the largest health insurer in the U.S. We will help UnitedHealthcare Vision to provide a greater choice and access to more of its 20 million plan members, very promising initiative.In Sun and Readers, which is led by Eric Thoreux, as I said at the beginning, the division is growing fast. As you can see, growing above 11%. We continue to successfully develop the Bolon brand, not only in sunglasses but also in optical trends, which will help the division to be more balanced between sun season and the rest of the year sales-wise, but also to be more efficient from a production standpoint because they can boost the production. Now 30% of Bolon turnover is made of optical frames which are sold in the fast extending number of point of sale in China.With MJS, our retail organization in China, we increased in the last 9 months the number of store by 100 to reach 1,300 stores in China at the end of September. So very strong dynamic as well of increasing the presence of this brand in China. And on this side, Costa enjoyed a very good season and diversification of distribution beyond stock outlet. So they are less dependent of that channel which as you know in the U.S. is quite in the -- decreasing.All in all, we are en route for a record year since the creation of this division in 2010 with over 7% like-for-like growth forecast of the full year basis. Last business unit to end the review, online business led by Bernard Nuesser. We have seen quarter-after-quarter this division delivering around 15% like-for-like growth with the eyeglass segment of it growing much faster, around 30%. We continue to successfully deploy Vision Direct contact lenses brand in Europe, which is now present in 10 countries. But in Q3, one of the successes we are very proud about is the sharp acceleration of our Indian venture, Coolwinks, with revenue tripled from 1 quarter to the other. And interestingly, it's -- just by opening access to Coolwinks on mobile, it seemed obvious that so far in India the Internet seller were not on mobile. Interestingly, around 1/3 of the consumer are new wearers. So it demonstrates that by improving an increasing access to Vision at an affordable price, we can unleash unmet consumer demand. It's obviously true with the Eye Mitra franchise but it's also true online.Final comment on Q3, acquisition. You have seen that we are clearly resuming this acquisition strategy. The pipeline keeps on building as we speak, in the context of still a very -- a still very fragmented market as you know. We have finalized these transactions in the last 6 months and you should expect more for the quarters to come. So basically again, based on the first 9 months, Essilor International is well in line with its annual objective, your like-for-like revenue growth close to 4% and contribution from operation greater than the [ recall ] to 18.3%.Now I will spend the last minute of this presentation to give you some flavor for the end of the year and 2019. So obviously, Essilor will continue to develop the strategy based on innovation at every price point. You will see a lot of new products again in 2019. Bolt-on acquisition, we spoke about it. And also obviously, as Hubert mentioned and explained, attention of new consumer base to the 2.5 NVG included business, strategically linked around this campaign and mobilization of key organization.But on the top of that, I want to share with you today some of the growth opportunity we have decided to address in the next few years -- for the next few years. I will just highlight only 4 of them and there is many others. Number one, as we've seen the fast-developing pandemia called myopia. As you know, 5 billion consumer will be affected by 2050. So how to accelerate the development of the deployment of existing solution? How to improve access to [ balance ] so that kids are well covered? How to create more aesthetic and comfortable solution? How to scale up the delivery of myopia management solution? For all those questions, we have created a dedicated team to define and execute the clear multiyear road map to address this pandemia. So again, developing the Sun prescription market. As you know, Sun prescription market is very -- is a very underdeveloped category, around 5% of the total Sun market. So we also structure the team and dedicate new resource to accelerate the development of the Sun prescription category. Also, exciting leveraging opportunities around digital activities. Today, about 200 million consumer visit our website, e-commerce, information, brand website. They come with questions. They show interest in vision and protection. So the question is, how can we help them to find faster the perfect solution for them and for their need? So again, we have created a team dedicated to solve that issue and take advantage of that huge potential to aid those consumers. And last but not the least, the development of the photochromic market. We have started to regimen the leading brand Transition as all the work that Chrystel is leading with her team by introducing more color, more style. But there is a lot more to come with the brand image in order to tap this enormous potential. There will be exciting product as well in 2019.So naturally, the Essilor team will also work on the joint project with their peers at Luxottica. But this is not the purpose of this call, it will be the purpose of the next quarter, the future call. And in short, there is plenty to come in 2019 and Essilor benefit at the moment on the solid dynamic which will continue for the next few quarters.That was what I wanted to comment with you and share with you. So I think we go now to the Q&A question.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Thank you, Laurent. So can you tell us who is asking the first question?

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question from Cedric Lecasble from Raymond James.

[Cedric Lecasble, Financial Analyst]

Cedric Lecasble of Raymond James. Even if it's not the purpose of the call, we are quite advanced in the process of the merger. Some shares have already been transferred. Maybe you can help us understand how you work on an everyday basis. What was the priority projects? You gave some priority projects for 2019. Should we understand that some prescription at Sunglass Hut, for instance, could be rapidly deployed? Could you tell us a little bit what are the first measures? What are the first things you are doing in common? So second question would be on the online aspects. Do you see in any country, do you see any acceleration in online trends? Is there any progress on the mobile phone eye exam potentials? Is it something you are waiting for at some point to accelerate your online market? Did you see anything happening there? And maybe, what are the plans -- the last one, what are the plans to try to make LensCrafters as a successful chain it was before?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Thank you, thank you, Cedric. So I will try to answer a few of your questions and Laurent the others. Yes, as you said, really, this call is on Essilor business and Essilor business only. We have another opportunity to talk about EssilorLuxottica together with the Luxottica team when we will meet at the shareholders meeting in November. And this is where, together with Alessandra and Véronique and everyone at Luxottica, we will go maybe more in details on the things we can share with you on EssilorLuxottica. You have certainly seen the press release that we have issued a few weeks ago at the end of the board of -- or to the board of EssilorLuxottica. This explains actually what we are doing, our strategy, what we are achieving as far as managing the top of the house, the 2 CFO, the co-CFO has been named, Hilary and Stefano and all this. Since then, the team has communicated they'll work together in a few places, but it's way too early to share with you any priorities or anything else. We prefer absolutely to wait and share with you, together with Luxottica team, what we can share with you in November. I will not comment your point on LensCrafters. Again, I think you have a lot of information in the press release done by Luxottica. And I will give the mic to Laurent for your questions on online.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Yes, Cedric. So yes, there is what we see, a solid acceleration because also it's part of the decision we took. India is a key country for us, as I mentioned, U.S. as well. Also, the -- we see a good acceleration in our Sun brand. Obviously, Bolon but also Costa and even Foster Grant delivering sunglasses at the entry level of the market and also for reading glasses, maybe you have noticed that we made an acquisition in a company named Readers.com, now we own the domain name of Reader.com and this company is a good complement with the online activities that Foster Grant achieves at. You spoke also about the mobile eye exam. So yes, you're right. It will unlock and increase access to eye care and prescription, and we make progress. And actually, I think [ tomorrow ] in Indonesia, we'll have used those kind of technology in a pilot to -- with the Mata Mitra (sic) [ Mitra Mata ].

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Yes. As I was saying also in my opening comments, we are at the end of the week in Indonesia for the first Mitra Mata convention. And part of the training we are doing with those opticians we are training is actually developing and training them on using remote form of, let's say -- not eye exam but really the refraction part of the eye exam using mobile devices. And so far, I should say the past few months where we have developed that. Again, in an environment like Indonesia, it is actually a great success and absolutely speeds our ability to reach population which are remote and not served by traditional optician.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Antoine Belge from HSBC.

[Antoine Belge, Global of Consumer and Retail Research]

It's Antoine at HSBC. 3 questions. First of all, I think you mentioned the fact that the market was -- the global market was well-oriented. You mentioned the prevalence of each ID set and also the increasing awareness of consumers. What's your best estimate of the global market growth at the moment? And I assume that you are taking market share. So is it at the expense of the larger players like Hoya or Zeiss or more like mere smaller net players? And second question, you had a very strong performance in Sun. How much of that is related to the favorable weather conditions? And what is more attributable to your own performance? And finally, maybe one question related to the merger, especially the decision to look outside of Luxottica and Essilor for the new CEO. What's the rationale behind that? Also, what type of profile are you looking for? Is it something more working in a consumer goods company or health care company?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Okay, thank you, Antoine. I do recognize you for your questions actually. So let me cover maybe the first question and then the third one, and then I'll let Laurent comment on the performance because it's really thanks to you and your team, we are showing such great results. Yes, I mean, the market is -- the demand in the market is accelerating. The demand for myopic products, for presbyopic solutions is moving the high level of the range. We have always said that 3 to 4 or 2 to 3 for myopia and presbyopia. This is because as you know -- I mean, again, the demography is helping us and also the acceleration of the mid-tier specifically in countries where we have been delivering, let's say, low-end solutions and people are gaining more buying power, and now they are actually equipping themselves with visual solutions. So we do see in most of the countries of the world an acceleration on myopia demand and an acceleration for progressive or other presbyopes solution. Your third question was about, I think, what we put in the press release when we said that -- when we are talking about the CEO. First of all, it is not written anywhere that it's a search outside. I don't think this is in the press release at all. What we said -- what was decided is actually before year-end to -- in early 2019, that the board will mandate the nomination committee of the board to actually start to search inside and outside to have the proper CEO leading EssilorLuxottica. It is way too early, and we have -- I have certainly no indication. And I am not part of that committee by the way, so I just met them doing that work in the next few months. And once they will be ready, they will launch this search that could be, again, inside or outside, nothing is committed on this.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Weather condition.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Weather condition, no. The weather is good. But the business is going on [ too early ]. Why too early? [Indiscernible] the weather.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Exactly. So I think, yes, this just show that especially in the Sun business, we benefit this year in a much better sun season than last year. But good weather without good team, good work, good collection, good supply chain, good online sales won't do it. So yes, for me, interpreted data have no estimate or no -- didn't spend any minute to find an estimate. Knowing that then, especially for those developing some recovery last year in Q4, so now the comp in Q4 is a little bit -- a bit more difficult. So this is why we maintained the guidance actually, even if we are quite above at the end of September. And I think in also a lot of event -- weather event in Q3, especially in the U.S., so desperate, a little bit, but really what you should more notice is really the result of the work of the team.

[Antoine Belge, Global of Consumer and Retail Research]

Maybe just one follow-up on the market share gains? Where...

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Yes, I forgot your question on the market share. Yes, yes, Antoine, I'm sorry. Well, a little bit too early to tell you this. What's for sure we do see is that we are gaining market share on the biggest wide market, the biggest pie, which is the people which are not corrected. So don't think it is a fight between the key lens maker whatsoever. Maybe yes, because of our innovation, we are taking and continue to take or to grab, shoot at some point on -- of market share. But it's both -- it is much more the whitespace that actually we are getting new consumers, either online or on really traditional street stores. Again, because that -- there are more and more -- I mean, myopia is accelerating and presbyopia is accelerating. So it's more that than really the fight for share between Zeiss, Hoya and Essilor.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Michael Jungling of Morgan Stanley.

[Michael Klaus Jungling, MD, Head of MedTech & Services and Analyst]

I have 3 questions. Firstly, on North America. The organic growth on a comp-adjusted basis has slowed in the third quarter. And if this trend were to continue, North America would probably end up with flat or even negative growth in the fourth quarter. Is this something that you are seeing at the moment, sort of Q4 so far? Secondly, on UnitedHealth, when do the revenues kick in? And will it be noticeable to organic sales growth in 2019? And then thirdly, when it comes to margin mix, is the growth composition in the third quarter slightly more positive or negative compared to the first half of 2018? With a couple of puts and takes, I'm not quite sure which way it is going for you.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Okay. Thank you, Michael. So North America, yes, you need to be, really -- to trust us when we say growth in North -- growth in the U.S. is very strong. In the third quarter, they suffered from a one-off transition out of group decrease. That makes the figures less dynamic than in the first -- in the second quarter. But in the U.S., Essilor Experts, Varilux, Crizal, all of that is working well. And looking at Q4, for the first week of October are good, and they continue to fight. And they decide not to be, like what did you say, decreasing in Q4? No, they want to grow. So there is no indication that they will slow down. We benefit of more Essilor Expert, as I mentioned. We have a -- we entered Q4 with 2x the number of Essilor Experts we had last year. So we have the new transition which has been launched at the -- in the second -- in the beginning of the third quarter. So no, the dynamic is good. Just this transition of the outside group that you know has a delivery that depends, that they added per quarter. What was the second question again?

[Michael Klaus Jungling, MD, Head of MedTech & Services and Analyst]

My second question was on UnitedHealth.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Michael, can you...

[Michael Klaus Jungling, MD, Head of MedTech & Services and Analyst]

Okay. So I think it was on -- yes, UnitedHealth.

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Yes, yes, absolutely. Those, let's say, integration of supply chain between managed care and out-of-network [indiscernible] IT, so I don't have an exact date. But I would say it will start to pay in the second part of 2019. And about margins, it's too early to say. We see the driver of growth of gross margin which are Varilux and Crizal going up. In Sun & Readers, it's a little bit down. So -- but overall, we are confident of the value creation for Essilor.

[Michael Klaus Jungling, MD, Head of MedTech & Services and Analyst]

Okay, lovely. Maybe I can sneak in a last question that is on key employee retention. Since you've closed the deal with Luxottica, have you lost key employees since that announcement?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

No, no, no. Not at all actually. We have -- first of all, it's months ago. We have talent. We have key talents who have joined us recently in the Essilor mission, in marketing, in other actual business units. No, no, we absolutely have no one who has left. Everyone is quite excited by what's going on, and they want to be part of the adventure.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Veronika Dubajova of Goldman Sachs.

[Veronika Dubajova, Equity Analyst]

I also have 3, please. The first one is, can you quantify the impact on the U.S. growth from this transition decrease? I just would be curious to know what the underlying momentum looks like, it will be very helpful for us to get that color. My second question is actually on the European growth where I think after a very strong 2017, 2018 has not had the best of years. Curious, Laurent, Hubert, how you were thinking about the momentum as you think about 2019? And what, if anything, you can do to accelerate the growth from these very low single digits? And then my last question is on the integration committee and maybe can you comment on when we might get some more details on the management team that is participating in the committee and what their priorities are for 2019?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Yes, thank you, Veronika. I will let Laurent answer the 2 questions on the businesses. Again, I mean, on the integration committee on estate, it's really too early to tell you the priorities. The topics which we all know we have to work on, we have mentioned them many times. On our side, Eric, Leonardo, who is leading the integration is actually now -- that legally he can, working with the Essilor team, the top executives, who are too wide to list, really, all the key project that could help all of us to generate the EUR 600 million of synergies we have confirmed again in the press release at the end of October -- after the board, October 1. But it's way too early to actually give you more details on this. I think we need to let the team work and really understanding what they have to do. You have seen, I mean, Essilor is in really good shape. You have read, like me, as a result of Luxottica which show also a very strong performance. We have no issues to fix, and I think this is something everybody has to understand. So we have not to rush into any specific actions. We need to let the team to really know each other, understand what is really the strength in the business on the other side. My team knows very well Luxottica from, let's say, a vendor point of view. They are not intimate with the way they have driven the success of their business. And before jumping on the priorities, they need to know much more what has been the key driver of Luxottica successes. And of course on the other side, they have to do the same. They also have to understand how we have driven performance and shareholder value, and it is a process which has only started now because before the merge, before the completion of the merge, before October 1, it was absolutely impossible legally for the team. We need to exchange. And on top of that, you know that we are in the middle of launching the MTO, and we -- I think at the end of the week or something like this, which also is a legal complication, where not everything is legally authorized between both teams. So again, we are -- even within this -- even postclosing, because of the MTO process, we are still within a lot of, let's say, regulatory constraints, which allows the team to do things but not always to do everything they wanted to do. Laurent?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Yes. So, Veronika, your question on the U.S. and the impact of this transition of the group. Again, I want to recall everyone that transition is doing well. We are just beginning the specific situation in North America in Q3, but transition overall in group and our group are improving quarter after quarter. Then basically back to the question, I think the impact that we have estimated is 0.3%. So North America would have been at 4.2% in Q3 without that specific event which is quite in line or even better than the first half. So again, dynamic in the U.S. is good at the moment. Europe, I think you know. We said that the normative -- normalized growth between 1% and 2% in Europe is what -- where we need to -- you can expect on the long run. So they are closer to -- close to 1.4% in Q3. They were at 1.1% in Q2. So I think when the team delivered 1.4%, 1.5% or 2%, it's a good job. And that's what we expect from them on a regular basis. So that's what we expect also for 2019. Does that answer your question, Veronika?

[Veronika Dubajova, Equity Analyst]

Yes, that's very helpful. And if I may just follow up on the integration committee and your comments there. I mean, is it fair to assume given this, that while you're very excited about the synergies, the contribution probably in 2019 will be fairly minimal? Is that a right conclusion to take from the time lines that you were discussing?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Veronika, I even not know. I mean, I have a tendency to say yes, so we will give you good news at the end of 2019 like we are giving with Essilor good news with all our results. But on the other side, once we'll be able to implement everything, we know that we can deliver significant growth synergies and that there are a lot of low-hanging fruit as far as cost synergies. So yes, in your figures or in your thinkings, put it minimal, and I hope we'll be able to actually deliver better good news at the end of the year -- next year, I mean.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Julien Dormois of Exane BNP Paribas.

[Julien Dormois, Research Analyst]

I would also ask 3 questions, if I may. The first one would be on Latin America where you had spectacular growth in Q3. And this was despite much tougher comps in the region. So I was just curious to hear your thoughts about what's the reason behind that? We can remember that at some point, you had highlighted some pushback from customers, especially in Brazil. So does that mean that most of the customers have come back and are generating significant growth for you? Is that the main reason? Second question would be on the Sun & Readers division. Here again, quite a strong performance in Q3. What would be really helpful is if you could provide a bit more color between the various brands that you have in this business just to understand whether, for example, I don't know, Bolon is significantly outperforming FGX or is it because costs are driving? So just an indication of what those brands are growing at would be really helpful. And the last one is just a housekeeping one. It was also mentioned in the press release that you have disposed a subsidiary in Turkey to satisfy antitrust authorities. Are we talking about something not really meaningful in terms of sales? I don't know, like mid-single digit million euro or something?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Okay, Julien. Great questions. So I will start by -- if I could, the question on Turkey. At the size of EssilorLuxottica and the ambition of Luxottica, it's EUR 20 million sales opportunity that we had to -- that we will have to dispose. So I don't think it's a significant -- it's significant. I think the opposite that being able to build that combination going through 22, 23 authorities across the world is quite -- an amazingly good performance to have been able to go through that results process with just, if I may say so, I'm sorry for the Turkey, this disposal. So it's a very minimal impact. Sun & Readers, so yes, you know there is basically 3-year blocks in the -- in this division. There is Foster Grant in the U.S. with the growth which is a single digit, mid-single digit, quarter-after-quarter. There is Costa in the U.S. which is not close to be 8%, 9%, 10%, 11% even this quarter. And you have the China with Bolon and MGS which are growing strong double-digit more than -- more around 30% for Bolon and also very good and more than 10% for MJS. So that's a little -- total different dynamic that you can see. Obviously, the weight of FGX in mature markets like the U.S. with 3%, 4% is very good. Then -- oh, I'm telling -- I'm told that I made a big mistake. Costa is plus 15% in Q3. So sorry for Costa guys and Costa team only, they did a great job. So that gives you 3 -- the differential dynamics and so on. Latin America, so yes, we have seen a recovery in Brazil, and this is because of 2 things. Number one, the head of LatAm retired 1 year ago, Tadeu, after a good growth of our position in Latin America, and Ernesto Díaz that I mentioned at the beginning of the call, joined a little later than 1 year ago. With all his experience from Europe and bring some of the new model and for growth. And he had been able with his team to really renegotiate and rediscuss with many of the ophthalmologists and some customers on how to grow this wonderful market together. And I think they found the recipe that start to show results and is there to continue. We had also, after a difficult time in Mexico, after the earthquake and so on last year, we have a good dynamic in Mexico. Argentina as well. Chile and Columbia being in single digits of growth at the moment. So overall, a great recovery. Overall, we generally -- we moved a lot of team inside Latin America which always benefit of new members and new leaders to provide some new lever for growth.

[Julien Dormois, Research Analyst]

May I just follow-up...

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Did that answer your question?

[Julien Dormois, Research Analyst]

It does. If I may just follow up. A quick follow-up on Costa. Plus 15% is quite impressive. Is it based on the extension of the access to retail? I think it was mentioned in the press release that they are now addressing the regular optical shops. Is that the key reason behind the strong growth?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Yes, yes, yes. Because now as you know, and that's true for most of the brand, they developed optical frames with that brand. So they grow more and more in optical. So they are less dependent, more and more in optical, more and more in e-commerce, less dependent from the stock channel that as you know is going through a difficult time. Also, yes, we had to remind that this developed a lot from the hurricane last year in Florida. And as you know, Florida and eastern part of the U.S. is a bigger part of their business. And so a little bit of help on the 15%. But we take the 15% and we go with that.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

And Julien, maybe I will add something on Costa. They're actually a totally unique brand in the landscape of sunglasses due to their marketing, which is very different from all the other sunglasses brands. They have developed their business with specific targeted marketing for communities. The communities of the fishermen, the communities of people living and enjoying water activities. The communities of people who wants to clean the ocean from all plastic bottles and plastic things and the marketing they have developed really targeted on those communities now for the past, what, 5, 6, 7 years, really is paying off. And specifically on all those digital communities of the early generation, or less young actually also, which are really interested in the specific positioning and the marketing activities of Costa. Early this year and last year, they have won a lot of specific award as far as community brands and all this. And it does -- they run -- it does differentiate that brand from all the other brands that does exist in sunglasses. And I think we see the results because of that.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Domenico Ghilotti of Equita.

[Domenico Ghilotti, Analyst]

I understand that you are not sharing this -- any detailed synergies before the presentation in November. But I'm trying to get some colors on how the integration is progressing and the relation between the top management team and the relation between the 2 leaders.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

This is one question or you have more question?

[Domenico Ghilotti, Analyst]

Yes -- no, no. Just one question.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Okay. Thank you. So as I was explaining, we had the Board of Directors here in October and since then, all the team at various levels has actually started to work within the boundaries of all what can be done after a merge, but also when we are preparing the MTO. So we are learning from each other. We are trying specifically, as I said, to understand how, there the -- really the business of Luxottica is operating. We are sharing with them how our business is operating. So we have all those type of relationship between both top management of each company. Again, you really will know more when you will see all of us and when we will actually share with you a little more at the shareholder meeting in November.

[Domenico Ghilotti, Analyst]

Just as follow-up, sorry. Also on the dual listing, have you already taken any decision on the dual listing?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

There is no dual listing at all as it was actually already published -- or has been published in the document linked to the MTO. I think at the end of the week or something like this, if I recall exactly when it will be done. Yes, that is what I am told.

[Domenico Ghilotti, Analyst]

Okay, so the final decision, there is no opportunity to change what has been currently decided?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

You will see all that in detail in the document you will read at the end of the week when we publish the prospectus for the NQ, on Friday actually.

[Operator]

We will now take our next question from Ed Ridley-Day of Redburn.

[Edward Nicholas Ridley-Day]

Just to step back a little. Thank you for your guidance on your on retail, your plans in terms of the scope and then the acquisitions that you have done. But if we're thinking now that everything is done, at least from the legacy Essilor position that you might be thinking more back towards the sort of the 3 to -- at least 2 to 4 points of growth that you had from acquisitions and vertical integration historically, would that be the right way to think about it?

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

Ed, the line was really not good. Do you mind rephrasing your question, please?

[Edward Nicholas Ridley-Day]

Certainly. No, I'm just asking about the acquisitions that you've started to pick up again. Obviously, following the enforced absence from the -- doing deals in the last 1.5 years. How should we think about that? Historically, obviously, you are quite active. I mean, should we see -- should I be thinking about at least from an Essilor standalone basis in terms of what you've been doing historically, a return -- quite a quick return to that level of acquisitions, the sort of money we're seeing invested historically?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

If you mean are the team active to accelerate the closing of some deals around the world in different categories? Yes, they are. As you know, to cut the deal, we need to be, too. As you know for more than 18 months, we slowed down, stopped, and so we have to reactivate the file. And -- but there is a target in -- especially in a fast-growing market, especially in also Instruments and optometry division, especially some in e-commerce. So you will see progressively going back to the, quote, normal way Essilor "standalone" what was doing. Maybe a little bit more retail in fast-growing market. In order to accelerate introduction of innovation and increased access, maybe 2%, 3% Essilor -- for Essilor "standalone" that we could reach in the next coming 2 years.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

You know, Ed, all this is linked to actually our strategy of developing our mission everywhere. There are still a lot of countries or areas where we are totally underrepresented and where we need eventually to structure a little differently the retail networks. An area where we believe our countries, regions, where we believe they are mid-tier sunglasses brand that we need to actually accomplish our mission in those regions. So all the strategy we have developed on innovation and growth is really the continuity of this innovation. We've raised, as I said, EssilorLuxottica mission. And yes, definitely now that we can do that, we can -- that actually we are postclosing in a nutshell, and we have got a lot of green lights on the antitrust everywhere. We will definitely go back to our strategy of developing our business thanks to bolt-on, midsized or bigger size of acquisition to accomplish our mission of eradicating poor vision everywhere in the world. Laurent, do you want to mention something?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Just to remind that we had, too, a strong rating reconfirm the 2nd of October, so -- for EssilorLuxottica, so we have the means and the resource to make it happen.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

We have the power to develop our mission everywhere. This is what you have to say, Laurent, right?

[Laurent Vacherot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Essilor]

Very well said. Very well said.

[Edward Nicholas Ridley-Day]

You do indeed have the power to look everywhere. And I guess -- so just to pick up on something that Laurent had said. I mean, you could argue that the European retail market is pretty fragmented.

[Hubert Sagnières, Executive Vice]

I do not comment on European market. I'm commenting about our global mission everywhere in the world for 7.3 billion, 7.4 billion people. I don't think we have any questions. So, well, in that case, again, thank you for your comments and your questions. I'm sure you are as happy as we are on the momentum and the level of synergy we all have. So a big thank you to everyone, a big thank you for all the Essilor members. And I want to conclude also by saying a big hello to all the -- and a big welcome to all Luxottica members everywhere in the world. Now we are a team of 150,000, 140,000 people around the world. And they have the same mission, developing our strategy to [ first ] strong leader in the optical industry, who really needs a strong voice. So very happy to see some of you or all of you in our shareholder's meeting in November 29 somewhere in Paris. Thank you very much, good afternoon, good evening, everyone.