Luxottica chief remains bullish

Luxottica's chief executive, Andrea Guerra, said this week that he remained upbeat about future sales despite a tough 2008.

In July, the company said net profit fell 16.5 per cent in the first half of 2008 as a strong euro, consumer slowdown and one-off charges weighed on the balance sheet.

Speaking ahead of the company's third quarter results, due to be published on October 28, Guerra told Reuters: '2008 is a tough year. But I am very serene and relaxed looking at the future.

'We're working on doing everything that we need to do. It is a year of great changes, we have made acquisitions and big investments.'