Profit surge for Zara owner Inditex despite shoppers’ fears of inflation
Zara owner Inditex has seen sales and profit boosted, against a backdrop of a torrid consumer environment for fashion firms.
The Spanish fashion giant posted a 24 per cent jump in net profit in the first nine months of its financial year, despite what CEO Óscar García Maceiras described as a “challenging context.”
Sales online and in stores were elevated 19 per cent, compared to a year ago, hitting €23.1bn.
It follows the world’s largest apparel seller upping prices by around five per cent earlier this year, as retailers have been forced to grapple with inflationary input costs.
The Pull&Bear and Stradivarius owner said that its autumn/winter collections had been very well received by customers across the globe.
Boss García Maceiras lauded “the strength of our unique business model: fashionable collections, an appealing shopping experience and a team highly committed to achieving profitable and more sustainable growth”.
Inditex also said it expected its online sales to exceed 30 per cent of total sales by 2024.
The financial statement comes at a time where fashion retailers – including Zara’s fast fashion rivals Asos and Boohoo – are struggling to entice consumers to splash out on clothes amid a cost of living crunch.
Marta Ortega, the daughter of the founder-owner Amancio Ortega, stepped into the role of chair in April, with the retailer doing better than some of its rivals since.
Shares in Inditex were boosted by almost two per cent in Wednesday morning trading in Spain. The retailer’s share price has tumbled 12 per cent over the year to date.