MILAN, Italy — Sales at Italy's luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo rose for the second quarter in a row in the three months to June, confirming a recovery trend seen in the first part of the year.

Closely watched like-for-like sales grew 2.6 percent in the second quarter, accelerating from the 2.2 percent rise posted in the first three months of the year — which marked the first increase after ten quarters of falls.

Chief Executive Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi, a former Gucci executive appointed at Ferragamo's helm a year ago, has been trying to revamp the leather goods brand by focusing on new products and digital communication.

The company said on Tuesday it expected results in the second half of the year to be in line with the first half.

In the first six months, total revenues increased 4.4 percent at constant exchange rates to €705 million ($785.7 million), a touch above analyst estimates.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 2.1 percent over the period to €119 million.

Analysts had expected €701 million in sales and €122 million in adjusted core earnings, according to Refinitiv's SmartEstimates.

By Claudia Cristoferi; editor: Silvia Aloisi.