Milan, Italy – January 5, 2005 - Luxottica Group S.p.A. (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX) announced
that its subsidiary, Cole National Corporation, today sold all its shares in Pearle Europe B.V.,
representing approximately 21 percent of that company’s outstanding shares, to HAL
Investments B.V., a subsidiary of HAL Holding N.V. (AEX: HTTCU), for a cash purchase price
of €144 million (or approximately US$191 million calculated for convenience at the January 4,
2005 noon buying rate). HAL Investments holds the balance of Pearle Europe's outstanding
shares (except for approximately one percent held by management).

Luxottica Group gained control of the Pearle Europe shares in October 2004, as a result of its
acquisition of the Cole National business. The sale, Luxottica Group noted, was required by the
Articles of Association of Pearle Europe in light of the acquisition. Luxottica Group also noted
that holding an interest today in an optical retail chain in the still highly fragmented European
market is not strategic for the Group.

About Luxottica Group S.p.A.

Luxottica Group is the world leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of
prescription frames and sunglasses in mid- and premium-priced categories. The Group’s
products are designed and manufactured in its six facilities in Italy and one in the People’s
Republic of China. The lines manufactured by Luxottica Group include over 2,450 styles in a
wide array of colors and sizes and are sold through 20 wholly-owned subsidiaries in the United
States, Canada, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil,
Switzerland, Mexico, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa, Finland, Austria, Norway, Japan and
Australia; two 75%-owned subsidiaries in Israel and Poland; a 70%-owned subsidiary in
Greece; three 51%-owned subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Turkey and Singapore, one 49%-
owned subsidiary in the Arab Emirates and one 44%-owned subsidiary in India. In October
2004, Luxottica Group acquired Cole National Corporation, one of the largest U.S. optical
retailers, operating more than 2,100 retail locations through Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target
Optical and BJ’s Optical, and a leading provider of managed vision care services through Cole
National Managed Vision. Prior to that, in September 2003 the Group acquired OPSM Group,
the leading eyewear retailer in Australia, and, in March 2001, Sunglass Hut International, a
leading sunglass retailer with approximately 1,900 stores worldwide. This followed the
acquisitions of the Bausch & Lomb sunglass business, which includes the prestigious Ray-
Ban®, Revo®, ArnetteTM and Killer Loop® brands, in June 1999, and LensCrafters, the largest
optical retail chain in North America, in May 1995. For fiscal 2003, Luxottica Group posted net
sales and net income respectively of € 2,824.6 and € 267.3 million. Additional information on the
company is available on the web at www.luxottica.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
which are anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in
exchange rates, economic and weather factors affecting consumer spending, the ability to
successfully introduce and market new products, the ability to successfully launch initiatives to
increase sales and reduce costs, the availability of correction alternatives to prescription
eyeglasses, the ability to effectively integrate recently acquired businesses, including Cole
National, risks that expected synergies from the acquisition by Luxottica Group of Cole National
will not be realized as planned and that the combination of Luxottica Group’s managed vision
care business with Cole National’s will not be as successful as planned, as well as other
political, economic and technological factors and other risks referred to in Luxottica Group’s
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements
are made as of the date hereof and Luxottica Group does not assume any obligation to update
them.

Contacts

Luxottica Group S.p.A.

Luca Biondolillo, Director, Corporate Communications
Email: LucaBiondolillo@Luxottica.com

Alessandra Senici, Manager, Investor Relations
Email : AlessandraSenici@Luxottica.com
Tel.: +39 (02) 8633-4665

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