Sales of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses continued their double-digit growth in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, according to their Italian parent company Luxottica Group S.p.A.

The two brands are part of Luxottica’s wholesale division, where sales of premium and luxury optical brands grew by approximately 20%. The division's net sales rose to € 518.3 million ($668.6 mm) in the third quarter of 2010, from € 429.5 million ($614.2 mm) in the third quarter of 2009 (+20.7% at current exchange rates and +12.4% at constant exchange rates).
 
Operating income for the Wholesale Division amounted to € 94.9 million ($122.4 mm) in the third quarter of 2010, up by 53.8% compared with € 61.7 million ($88.2 mm) for the third quarter of 2009. The operating margin rose to 18.3% during the third quarter of 2010, from 14.4% for the third quarter of 2009, confirming the effectiveness of the measures taken to recover margins and a better price point/product mix effect. In the first nine months of 2010, the operating margin was 21.6% (19.7% in the same period of 2009).