The optician chain Fielmann has raised its forecast following its latest acquisitions.

External sales in 2023 are expected to be around 2.3 billion euros, up 13 per cent on the previous year, the Group announced on Friday. Previously, an increase of seven to ten percent had been forecast. Group turnover is expected to increase by the same amount to around two billion euros. In terms of operating profit (EBITDA), Fielman expects an increase of 18 percent to around 400 million euros. Previously, an increase of nine to 21 percent had been forecast. Earnings before tax (EBT) will climb to over 190 million euros, which also corresponds to growth of 18 percent.

Fielmann also announced that it had completed the purchase of the US optician SVS Vision at the end of August. SVS will contribute to the Fielmann Group's sales from September. In June, the optician chain sealed the takeover of the e-commerce platform Befitting. The contribution of the US business to Group EBITDA will still be negligible in 2023, but will improve significantly in 2024.

(Report by Ralf Banser; edited by Sabine Wollrab - If you have any questions, please contact the editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).