EssilorLuxottica reported an increase in first-quarter sales on Thursday, driven by growth in sales across all regions and channels.

The manufacturer of Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses reported a 9.7% rise in sales to 6.15 billion euros for the first three months of the year, at current exchange rates.

The Franco-Italian group reported its best-ever performance in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter, thanks to the recovery in China following the lifting of restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales in this region rose by 12% at constant exchange rates to 750 million euros, compared with 685 million euros last year.

EssilorLuxottica CFO Stefano Grassi told analysts in a teleconference that the trend in China was strong, stressing that the country was an important factor in the group's sales growth this year.

Other companies in the luxury goods sector have also benefited from China's rebound, despite rising prices and global market turbulence.

Hermès has

recorded

a 23% increase in first-quarter sales, and LVMH

sales

by 17%. (Reporting by Lina Golovnya and Laura Lenkiewicz, Augustin Turpin, edited by Camille Raynaud)