Italy's Luxottica, the biggest eyewear maker in the world, said on Thursday its profits jumped in the second quarter despite the crisis in Europe mainly thanks to increased sales in emerging markets.

Net profits at the company, which produces Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses as well as eyewear for Chanel and Prada, went up 20.6 percent from the same period last year to 195.5 million euros ($240.1 million), Luxottica said in its earnings statement.

It also said its operational profits increased 20.2 percent to 332.6 million euros and sales went up by 15.2 percent to 1.882 billion euros.

"In a very challenging period, we managed to grow our business by 15 percent with respect to last year," said Luxottica chief executive Andrea Guerra.

"A balanced business model and a global geographic presence are the two pillars which have underpinned performance through today," he said.

Guerra said the results were "a solid foundation" for reaching 2012 targets.

The results showed that sales rose by just 1.0 percent in Europe in the first half of the year because of the crisis but sales in emerging markets went up 35 percent and there was also a strong recovery in the United States.Rome, July 26, 2012 (AFP)