"Results of our wholesale division were extremely positive, with strong sales performance in all the markets where we operate. Fashion and luxury brands across our entire brand portfolio -- especially Prada, Bvlgari and Chanel in addition to the recently launched Dolce & Gabbana collections -- enjoyed strong demand. Ray-Ban had another strong quarter, after the spectacular growth experienced in 2005 and three consecutive years of 20 percent growth," he added.
In North America, overall performance across the entire division was above that of the premium retail sector in that market. Both LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut posted double-digit comparable sales growth -- the fourth such quarter in a row for Sunglass Hut -- while Pearle Vision enjoyed a second consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales, while profitability for the quarter more than doubled.
In Asia-Pacific, results were strong within the Group's optical business both in terms of sales and profitability following the repositioning of the OPSM brand and strong demand for Luxottica fashion brands. On the profitability front, the overall strong performance resulted in an improvement of 250 basis points in operating margin for the entire retail division to 12.6 percent.
Luxottica Group's net debt position on March 31st 2006 was €1,457.4 million, up from €1,435.2 million on December 31st 2005, as a result of the impact on working capital levels in conjunction with the strong rise in sales over the period.
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