PARIS, Oct 14, 2010 AFP © - LVMH, the world's leading luxury retailer, said Thursday its sales so far this year have risen sharply, driven largely by Asia and by demand for champagne.

LVMH's Louis Vuitton Autumn-Winter Campaign 2010

The strong figures from LVMH, and its top-branded products under the Louis Vuitton name, is in line with performances across the luxury products sector since the beginning of the year.

LVMH said its sales rose 23.6 percent in the third quarter and were up 19 percent at 14.2 billion euros (19.9 billion dollars) for the nine months to September compared with the same period in 2009.

"Momentum continued to be very strong in Asia, Europe and America. Louis Vuitton once again achieved double-digit organic revenue growth," the group said.

The Fashion and Leather goods division was the biggest earner, with nine-month sales of 5.46 billion euros up 20 percent, following by Selective Retailing with sales of 3.71 billion euros, up 17 percent.

Wines and Spirits jumped 22 percent to 2.15 billion euros.

LVMH said the "excellent performance" in the nine months confirmed its confidence for full-year 2010.

This year has proved much more successful for luxury brand groups after the global slump hit their business badly last year.

LVMH counts among its brands, Givenchy, Dior and Guerlain perfumes alongside Moet and Chandon and Dom Perignon champagnes.

In midday trade, LVMH shares were marginally lower in an otherwise flat Paris stock exchange, with analysts said the figures were good.

The share price is up 41 percent so far this year, which helped explain the muted response to the latest results, they said.