Oct 17 (Reuters) - Franco-Italian eyewear maker

EssilorLuxottica missed third quarter revenue

expectations on Thursday, dented by a slowdown in consumer

spending in China.

Group revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 came in at

6.44 billion euros ($6.97 billion), below analysts' forecasts of

6.58 billion euros, according to a Visible Alpha consensus cited

by Dow Jones.

Group Chief Financial Officer Stefano Grassi told an analyst

call that the group faced a "clear deceleration" in revenue

growth in the Chinese market compared with the previous quarter.

Essilor's performance in Asia was notably affected by a

slowdown in Hong Kong, where the company faced "a structural

lack of tourist traffic and consumer spending", he said.

The European luxury sector has been hit by lower consumer

spending in China, with French luxury giant LVMH

reporting on Tuesday its first decline in quarterly sales since

the pandemic as demand in China and Japan weakened.

Essilor saw its revenue in the Asia-Pacific region rise 5%

at constant exchange rates in the third quarter, but that was

slower than 9.8% growth in the second quarter of 2024.

Grassi, however, said that the group expected revenue growth

to accelerate in the fourth quarter, both organically and from

the impact of the acquisition of Heidelberg and Supreme.

He highlighted strong sales of smart Ray-Ban eyewear

developed in partnership with Meta. "It's an overall

success story, just to give you an idea, it's not just a success

in the U.S. - it's also a success here in Europe. In 60% of the

Ray-Ban stores, Ray-Ban Meta is the bestseller," he said.

Essilor confirmed its guidance for the 2022-2026 period,

targeting revenue growth of 27-28 billion euros over the period,

and an adjusted operating profit as a percentage of revenue in

the range of 19-20% by the end of that period.

Italian eyewear giant Luxottica in 2018 merged with French

lens maker Essilor in a $58 billion deal, forming

EssilorLuxottica.

EssilorLuxottica owns major retail outlets including

LensCrafters, Sunglasses Hut and For Eyes, and also popular

eyewear brands such as Persol, Oliver Peoples, and Oakley.

($1 = 0.9237 euros)