Kering's Gucci sales growth slows in first quarter, below expectations

French luxury group Kering's flagship Gucci brand posted a lower-than-expected rise in first-quarter sales on Thursday amid a difficult environment for the luxury sector. Gucci posted 3.1 percent growth in comparable sales, below analysts' expectations of 5 to 6 percent and slowing from 4.8 percent growth in the last quarter of 2015. The luxury goods industry has had a difficult start to the year, partly due to the Chinese economic slowdown and a sharp drop in tourist traffic in shopping hotspot