MILAN, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Brunello Cucinelli returned to profit in the first half of 2021 after a pandemic-driven loss last year, with core earnings recovering to match their 2019 pre-coronavirus levels.

"The brand seems to be gaining broad consensus. Order intake for the Spring Summer 2022 Men's and Women's collections, now almost at an end, was excellent", Chairman Brunello Cucinelli said on Thursday, confirming the group's guidance for 2021 and 2022 revenue.

The label known for cashmere clothing has raised its sales outlook twice this year. It said in July it expected full-year sales growth of around 20% for 2021 and an increase of around 10% in 2022.

Revenues soared by almost 60% at constant exchange rates in the first half of the year to 313.7 million euros compared with the same period of 2020, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Brunello Cucinelli posted a core profit of 80.65 million euros ($94.8 million) for the first half of 2021 compared to a 3.4 million loss last year and a 79.2 million profit in the first six months of June 2019, before the pandemic hit. ($1 = 0.8503 euros) (Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Silvia Aloisi)