Mister Spex Q1 revenues improve by 6 percent

Omnichannel optician Mister Spex SE reported first-quarter revenue growth of 6 percent to 50.1 million euros.

The company said in a release that 19 percent increase in prescription glasses sales largely drove the growth. The sunglasses segment grew by 6 percent, compared to 8 percent growth in the same period in 2022 due to poor weather conditions affecting consumer demand for outdoor activities and products in the first quarter of 2023.

Commenting on the first quarter trading, Dirk Graber, founder and Co-CEO of Mister Spex, said: “We are pleased to see that all the efforts we put in motion last year are now yielding results. I am particularly satisfied with the growth we experienced in our key markets and categories, which contributed to achieving a robust gross profit in the first quarter.”

The company added that revenues in Germany increased by 12 percent driven by a 21 percent increase in prescription glasses and 9 percent increase in the sunglasses segment. The overall marketing spend decreased by 15 percent year-on-year, representing 13 percent of sales in the first quarter of 2023.

The revenue in the International segment declined by 8 percent driven by the Nordics and UK, which could only partially be compensated by positive development in Austria and Switzerland. From the category perspective, the decline in the international segment was fully driven by lower contact lenses revenues, which was only partially compensated by growing revenues in prescription glasses and sunglasses.

The adjusted EBITDA improved by 645 basis points to reach negative 3.3 percent in the first quarter driven by higher gross margin, which reached 53.6 percent, up 440 basis points versus prior year.

For full year, the company’s management expects revenue growth in the mid to high single-digit percentage range and a positive adjusted EBITDA margin in the low single-digit percentage range.