MILAN (Reuters) - Sales at Italy's luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo (MI:SFER) rose for the second quarter in a row in the three months to June, driven mainly by Asia, confirming a recovery trend in the first part of the year.
Closely watched like-for-like sales rose 2.6% in the second quarter, accelerating from a 2.2% rise recorded in the three months between January and March - which marked the first increase after ten quarters of falls.
Chief Executive Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi, a former Gucci executive appointed to head Ferragamo a year ago, has been seeking to revamp the leather goods brand by focusing on new products and digital communication.
The company said on Tuesday it expected results in the second half of the year to be in line with the first half.
In the first six months, total revenues increased 4.4% at constant exchange rates to 705 million euros (£645.52 million), a touch above analyst estimates.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 2.1% over the period to 119 million euros.
Analysts had expected 701 million euros in sales and 122 million euros in adjusted core earnings, according to Refinitiv's SmartEstimates.
Sales growth in the first half of year was driven by Asia, Ferragamo's main market, and in particular by China where the retail channel rose 16.3% at constant rates.
The wholesale channel posted a strong performance and, in terms of product categories, handbags and fragrances outperformed footwear.