RPT-L'Oreal Q4 sales up 5.3 pct, to buy back shares

(Repeats to attach to L'Oreal alerts, no changes to text)

PARIS Feb 11 (Reuters) - L'Oreal on Monday posted a 5.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter like-for-like sales as the world's biggest cosmetics group announced it would launch a share buyback programme of 500 million euros in the first half of this year.

The Paris-based maker of Lancome creams and Garnier shampoo said turnover in the three months to Dec. 31 reached 5.7 billion euros ($7.63 billion), pulled by strong demand in North America and solid growth in the Asia Pacific region.

($1 = 0.7474 euros) (Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Edited by Lionel Laurent)