Zara owner Inditex sees sales pattern improve

Zara owner Inditex has seen its sales growth pick up after poor weather and weak foreign currencies weighed on profit in the first half.

Picture: Contributed

Interim net profit at the world’s largest clothing retailer, which owns eight brands including upmarket Massimo Dutti, lifted just 1 per cent to €951 million (£800m), but topped analysts’ hopes on the back of tough cost controls and a lower tax rate.

The weak results follow years of stellar performance, but showed an improvement from the end of the first half onwards with sales up 10 per cent at the start of the third quarter.

Unlike rivals, Inditex gives no monthly or quarterly like-for-like sales, which compare sales at stores open more than a year, but analysts said yesterday’s statement showed trading had gathered pace.

Highly cash generative and practically debt free, the retail giant has expanded aggressively into emerging markets such as China and Russia, opening 95 stores to bring its total to 6,104 across 86 countries.