Safilo Q1 sales down 4 pct on Armani phase-out

MILAN May 4 (Reuters) - Italy's No. 2 eyewear maker Safilo said its first-quarter net sales were down 4 percent at 288.7 million euros compared with a year earlier, hit by the phasing out of its contract with fashion house Armani.

Last November, the group lost its contract to make Armani-branded eyewear from 2013 to bigger rival Luxottica , the world's biggest premium eyewear maker.

Safilo's core earnings margin fell to 11.2 percent from 13.5 percent at the same period last year, hit by sluggish sales in crisis-hit southern Europe, it said in a statement on Friday.

The group stuck to its medium term target, it added. (Reporting by Michel Rose)