Essilor’s employee share ownership activities honoured with the 2013 Employee Shareholding Top Prize

Charenton-le-Pont, France, 25-11-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — Essilor today received the 2013 Employee Shareholding Top Prize which recognizes the Group’s activities to promote a strong employee share ownership and place its employee shareholders at the heart of the company’s governance. This award was presented in Paris, at the Actionaria exhibition, by the FAS (Federation of Associations of Employee Shareholders).

Essilor gives a prominent place to employee share ownership. It stands out by its exemplary governance, which closely connects 15 000 employee shareholders to the company’s important decisions, with three members of the employee shareholders association sitting on the Board of Directors and, each year, a vote of confidence in the company’s strategy as well as in its human resources policies.

The jury also highlighted Essilor’s actions to develop employee ownership at an international level (via employee shareholding plans tailored by country and performance share plans), with employee shareholders across 37 countries on five continents and 10 more countries added over the past four years. The award also recognized the quality of information, advice and training provided to employee shareholders thanks to a dedicated internal department.

“Employee share ownership has been at the heart of our corporate culture since Essilor’s creation. By encouraging our teams’ active engagement, employee shareholding has allowed the Group to deliver a consistent level of performance. The global extension of employee ownership reflects our desire to unite our employees’ and our company’s interests around the shared goal which is Essilor’s success. Our governance, which promotes dialogue and associates employee shareholders in the Group’s mission of improving vision and in its major decisions, also reflects this ambition” commented Hubert Sagnières, Chairman and CEO of Essilor International.

Internal shareholding* currently corresponds to 8% of share capital. It is represented by Valoptec Association that was created in 1972, at the same time as Essilor came into being through the merger of Essel and Silor.

Valoptec reflects the founding principles that the Group has been promoting for more than 160 years and encourages the long-term commitment of its employees.

About Essilor
The world’s leading ophthalmic optics company, Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its corporate mission is to enable everyone around the world to access lenses that meet his or her unique vision requirements. To support this mission, the Company allocates more than €150 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Essilor’s flagship brands are Varilux®, Crizal®, Definity®, Xperio®, OptifogTM and Foster Grant®. It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.

Essilor reported consolidated revenue of approximately €5 billion in 2012 and employs around 50,700 people. It operates in some 100 countries with 22 plants, more than 400 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as several research and development centers around the world.

For more information, please visit www.essilor.com.

The Essilor share trades on the NYSE Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

Contacts
Corporate Communications
Lucia Dumas
Tel: +33 (0)1 49 77 45 02

Press Relations
Maïlis Thiercelin
Tel: +33 (0)1 49 77 42 66

* Employees, former employees, retired employees and partners