CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, August 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Hubert Sagnieres Appointed Chief Operating Officer of Essilor

The Board of Directors of Essilor International today appointed Hubert Sagnieres as Chief Operating Officer, to serve alongside Xavier Fontanet, Chief Executive Officer, and Philippe Alfroid, Chief Operating Officer.

A graduate of Ecole Centrale in Lille and holder of an MBA from Insead, Hubert Sagnieres joined Essilor in 1989 as President of International Marketing. He was appointed President of Essilor Canada in 1991, and President of Essilor Laboratories of America in 1997, then President of Essilor of America. Since 2006, he has been President of the North American and Europe Regions, a position that he will continue to hold in addition to his new responsibilities.

Hubert Sagnieres was also elected to the Essilor Board of Directors at the Shareholders' Meeting on May 14, 2008.

Essilor International is the world leader in ophthalmic optical products, offering a wide range of lenses under the flagship Varilux(R), Crizal(R), Essilor(R) and Definity(R) brands to correct myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia and astigmatism. Essilor operates worldwide through 15 production sites, 270 lens finishing laboratories and local distribution networks.

The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the CAC 40 index.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR 0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EF.FP.

Investor Relations and Financial Communications Veronique Gillet - Sebastien Leroy Phone: +33(0)1-49-77-42-16 http://www.essilor.com

Investor Relations and Financial Communications, Veronique Gillet - Sebastien Leroy, Phone: +33(0)1-49-77-42-16