Madrid (AFP) – Shares in Zara owner Inditex, the world’s largest fashion retailer, soared on Wednesday as a positive start to the autumn season enthused investors and eclipsed slower-than-expected sales growth. The Spanish firm reported that profit crept up 0.8 percent to 2.8 billion euros in the six months between February and July, with sales growing 1.6 percent to reach 18.4 billion euros ($21.5 billion).
The results fell slightly short of analyst expectations for the clothing giant, whose brands also include Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho. Inditex, however, said its autumn/winter collections “have been very well received by our customers,” with a nine-percent increase in store and online sales in constant currency between August 1 and September 7.
Inditex shares were up by more than seven percent at 10:30 am (0830 GMT) on a Spanish stock market that rose by around one percent. “The results were bad, but the market is reacting very positively to this growth figure because it means returning to the levels Inditex had got us used to,” XTB analyst Javier Cabrera wrote in a note.
“The market is focusing more on the short term, but we believe the key for Inditex is in current investments, which will have a positive impact and are not yet completely reflected in its accounts.” Inditex is improving its logistics to deliver online orders faster than rivals and investing in larger, more modern stores while it shuts smaller shops. It estimated around 1.8 billion euros of capital spending for this year.
Chief executive Oscar Garcia Maceiras said in a statement that Inditex had “achieved a solid performance in this first half of 2025, with satisfactory sales in a complex market environment and keeping strong levels of profitability.”
© 2024 AFP
