* Working to make 2010 "return to normality"
* Q3 sales up 0.9 percent to 1.223 bln euros
* Shares close up 3.56 percent (Adds comments from conference call)
MILAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Italian eyewear maker Luxottica is looking to next year with a degree of optimism after a tough 2009, Chief Executive Andrea Guerra said, as the company posted a 20.6 percent fall in third-quarter net profit.
Luxottica, the world's biggest in its field, said in a statement on Thursday markets stabilised in the third quarter though in a still challenging environment.
"2009 has been a challenging year but the worst is behind us. Today we are looking to the future with optimism," Guerra said, speaking at an earlier shareholders' meeting, where the payment of a dividend of 0.22 euro per share was approved.
He said Luxottica was working towards making 2010 "a return to normality" for the maker of Prada and Ray-Ban sunglasses.
On a conference call with analysts, he said Luxottica was building to go back to mid-single digit growth in 2010 sales and the ratio between EBITDA and debt should be below 2.5 times.
"We want to have a strong growth in profitability, we want to be back to our normal terms," Guerra said.
Luxottica said sales grew for a second consecutive quarter, edging up 0.9 percent to 1.223 billion euros ($1.80 billion).
They fell 1.4 percent at constant exchange rates while third-quarter net profit was 83.1 million euros.
Luxottica's own analysis of its performance this year sees net income unchanged at 395 million euros if sales rise 6.5 percent. If sales are flat or rise 2.5 percent, net income is seen down 15-20 percent while net income would fall 30-40 percent if sales decreased 2-6 percent.
On the call, Luxottica executives said they expect to be between the first two scenarios.
Luxottica said there were encouraging market recovery signs from Italy, Spain, Germany and France, while the North American market found some stability. Emerging markets did not show signs of a slowdown in growth.
Cash flow generation for the quarter was 207 million euros.
Guerra said Luxottica was not looking at any major acquisitions at this time, preferring smaller deals.
"We will continue to make various small, medium-sized operations around the world via brands and retail to strengthen our competitive positioning," he said. "They will be strategic operations without major investment."
Luxottica said this week it was opening new Sunglass Hut retail brand stores in the Philippines as well as expanding its presence in South Africa. Luxottica has so far closed 262 stores this year and opened 159 new shops. This meant it had 103 net closures, most of them in the United States, Guerra said.
Luxottica shares closed up 3.56 percent at 17.15 euros. (Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Cristina Carlevaro; editing by Simon Jessop and Rupert Winchester) ($1=.6785 Euro)