Strong Asia demand buoys sales at Birkin bag maker Hermes

PARIS (Reuters) - Birkin handbag maker Hermes <HRMS.PA> on Tuesday posted a better-than-expected rise in comparable sales in the second quarter, buoyed by solid demand in Asia in an encouraging signal for some of its major luxury goods rivals.

The French company, best known for its pricey leather goods, said sales for the April to June period grew 14.7% on a reported basis to 1.67 billion euros (£1.50 billion), and were up 12.3% when stripping out foreign exchange fluctuations.

That marked a pick-up from the 11.6% comparable sales growth notched up a quarter earlier, when several analysts had expected a slightly more muted performance, citing a tougher comparison base.

(Reporting by Sarah White and Pascale Denis; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)