MILAN (Reuters) - Italian luxury outerwear group Moncler on Wednesday reported a stronger than expected 1% increase in revenue in the first quarter thanks mostly to direct-to-consumer sales and Asian demand.

Revenues for the three months to the end of March totalled 829 million euros ($944 million), ahead of a company-provided analysts' consensus of 817 million euros.

The change is not affected by currency moves with the increase the same at both constant and current exchange rates.

Sales for the Moncler brand rose 2% in the period, with no currency impact, with Asia performing better than Europe and the Americas.

Revenues at the group's smaller brand Stone Island declined 5% despite a double-digit increase in direct sales, while Asia outperformed other regions.

The company's wholesale business was heavily impacted by a difference in timing of deliveries between the first and second quarter compared to last year and the ongoing selection of a distributor.

Moncler Chief Executive Remo Ruffini said in a statement the group strived to ride the challenge posed by a very unstable macroeconomic backdrop with its "strong operational discipline".

The market turmoil triggered by U.S. tariffs has put additional pressure on the luxury sector, which has faced a slowdown in global luxury demand over the past year.

Luxury group LVMH said on Monday that revenues at its leather and fashion goods unit dropped 5% in the first quarter.

Last year, Moncler bucked the sector slowdown, also thanks to sustained growth in Asia, its main market.

The group made only 14% of its revenues in the Americas region in 2024.

($1 = 0.8786 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin and Valentina Za. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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