FLORENCE, Italy — The chairman of Italy's Salvatore Ferragamo said on Friday he hoped the luxury group's new chief executive will come from within the company as it presses ahead with its ambitious industrial plan.

"The new CEO must love and understand Ferragamo and I hope (he) will come from within the company," Ferruccio Ferragamo told reporters at the end of the group's annual shareholders meeting in Florence.

He excluded the new CEO would be a Ferragamo family member.

Ferragamo took temporary charge after CEO Eraldo Poletto stepped down in March and said he intended to hold the reins for as short a period as possible. He added that the group was pressing ahead with the industrial plan presented in February last year "without changes or twists".

By Giulia Segreti; editor: Agnieszka Flak.