Luxottica sees strong high-end growth in 2013

MILAN - Italy's Luxottica expects sales of its fashion sunglasses to grow double-digit in 2013 after demand for luxury goods from emerging markets helped first-quarter sales meet expectations.

Luxottica, the world's biggest premium eyewear maker by revenues, said on Monday it would continue to expand in Latin America and southeast Asia through acquisitions of retail businesses.

The owner of Ray-ban and Oakley brands, which sells almost 60 percent of its products in the United States, reported first-quarter sales of 1.86 billion euros ($2.42 billion), up 4.2 percent on the year before.

The result was in line with an average forecast of 1.87 billion euros by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.

The group said net profits were 159 million euros in the quarter.