MILAN, Italy — Italian fashion house Moncler posted better than expected third-quarter revenue but held back from providing a forecast for the important last quarter of the year because of surging coronavirus infections.

The reopening of shops in most regions during the summer helped sales to pick up strongly in China and South Korea and register "significant improvement" in the United States since August, though Europe remained weak because of a lack of tourists, the company said.

"We ended the third quarter with better results than we expected ... The signs we are seeing in October are encouraging, but we know we have challenging weeks ahead of us, made even more uncertain by the current global economic and health situation," Chairman and Chief Executive Remo Ruffini said in a statement.

In the months between July and September revenue dropped 15 percent year on year at current exchange rates to 361.8 million euros ($428 million). That compared with an analyst consensus of 340.7 million euros.

Moncler has become one of the best-performing luxury groups in the sector after a makeover under Ruffini.

But with shoppers confined to home during lockdowns in its main markets, sales were down by about 50 percent in the second quarter after an 18 percent drop in the first quarter.

By Claudia Cristoferi; editor: David Goodman