Inditex profits up 63% as Zara spreads wide

INDITEX, owner of the fashion group Zara, announced a 63 per cent increase in quarterly profits yesterday – thanks to strong sales and new store openings.

The company, which is Europe's biggest fashion retailer, made a net profit of 249m in the first three months of 2010 and saw total sales increase by 14 per cent.

Peter Farren, an analyst at Bryan Garner, said: "They are in a habit now of beating expectations virtually every quarter."

Inditex opened 98 stores in 29 countries in the first quarter of 2010, bringing its total to 4,705 in 76 countries as of 30 April 2010. Its workforce grew from 88,924 in the first quarter of 2009 to the current 93,779.

Zara, which is run by Amancio Ortega, Spain's richest man, opened its first Indian store in May, and plans to launch three more shops there in 2010 , one in Mumbai and two more in Delhi.