By Mimosa Spencer

PARIS, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Birkin bag maker Hermes

reported on Thursday an 11.3% rise in third-quarter

sales, continuing to outshine rivals hit hard by a downturn in

China as its luxury handbags lure wealthy shoppers.

The French luxury company generated 3.7 billion euros

($3.99 billion) in revenue for the three months ending in

September, an 11.3% rise at constant exchange rates.

The figure was in line with an analyst consensus estimate of

11% growth cited by Jefferies.

"In a more uncertain economic and geopolitical context, I

want to thank all employees for the robust third-quarter

performance, and our customers for their loyalty," said Axel

Dumas, Executive Chairman of Hermes.

"Thanks to the singularity of its model, Hermes is

continuing its recruitments and long-term investments," he said

in a statement.

A sector-wide slowdown has affected labels across the

high-end spectrum.

Luxury bellwether LVMH missed expectations last week and

flagged a drop in Chinese consumer confidence to COVID-era lows,

with a deterioration in demand for fashion over the quarter.

Late on Wednesday, Kering warned its 2024

operating income would almost halve to its lowest in years as

weak demand in China deepened the struggles of the French luxury

goods group's main label Gucci.

Hermes' famously classic designs and tight management of

production and stock have helped reinforce the label's aura of

exclusivity and made the company one of the most consistent

performers in the industry.

Handbags like the coveted $10,000 plus Birkin model are

affordable only for the wealthiest shoppers -- who are typically

the more immune to choppy economic conditions.

But showing limits of its resilience, executives earlier

this year said that Hermes was seeing slightly less traffic from

aspirational clients, impacting higher volume products like

fashion accessories such as silk scarves.

Hermes shares have risen nearly 9% since the start of the

year, outpacing rivals, with LVMH down nearly 15%, Moncler down

3.3% and Kering, which is working to turn around

Gucci, down 40%.

($1 = 0.9267 euros)