The third quarter of this year showed good results for Luxottica. Both wholesale and retail divisions realized an increase in sales which however was seriously diminished by less favorite exchange rates. Sales in the third quarter totaled 1.523,807 million euro, an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. In dollars this increase would have been 13,8% due to the fact that a major part of the sales is realized in North America. Sales in the first nine months increased with 5,9% to a total of 4.713,453 million euro. The wholesale division increased mostly because of good results in emerging markets. China, Brazil, the Middle East and Italy, Germany and the UK in Europe performed quite well. Oakley, Ray-Ban, Burberry, Tiffany and Ralph Lauren were the best performing brands. Sunglass Hut and the opening of new stores were the key factors in the success of the retail division. Like for like the North American optical stores grew only 0,4%.
