On Monday, the world's number one manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses, Essilor, announced a quarterly revenue result below expectations, but confirmed its annual guidance.

The French group, which finalised the merger with Italian eyewear manufacturer Luxottica on October 1, announced in a press release it reached a quarterly revenue of €1.811 billion, up by 4.4%. Analysts told financial data firm Refinitiv they were expecting a quarterly revenue of €1.98 billion.

The new optics giant, called EssilorLuxottica, confirmed the annual guidance for Essilor, notably forecasting an organic growth of about 4%.

As for Luxottica, which also confirmed its 2018 forecast, in the third quarter it reported a 2.9% sales growth, reaching €2.22 billion. The Ray-Ban.com site was the main driver of its online business.

The merger between Luxottica, which controls brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley, and Essilor, which sells lenses under the Varilux brand, aims to tap the growing demand for eyeglasses and sunglasses, due to the ageing of the world's population.

EssilorLuxottica will publish fully consolidated results from next year.