Italian fashion house Valentino expects sales to rise by a quarter in 2013 from a year earlier to around 500 million euros ($676 million), its chief executive said on Tuesday.

"This is a good moment. Our objective is to take advantage of this phase of growth," Stefano Sassi, head of the luxury label, said at a conference in Milan.

Global luxury goods sales are rising slightly faster than expected this year, driven by high demand from American and Chinese shoppers, according to consultancy Bain & Co, which increased its growth forecast for the sector in October to 6 percent from 4-5 percent.

A group of private investors from Qatar bought Valentino in July last year from its previous private equity owner Permira for about 700 million euros.

Valentino publishes details of its financial performance relatively rarely compared to companies listed on stock markets.