Inditex, the Spanish fashion retailer that owns Zara and Massimo Dutti, grew half-year sales by 14% while making its debut in India.
Inditex, which last month scaled back plans to open new UK stores due to concerns about trading conditions, said net sales between February 1 to July 31 increased to €5.5bn (£4.61bn). Like-for-like sales grew 5%.
Net income rocketed 68% to €628m. Gross profit rose 22% to €3.27bn (£2.73bn).
Current trading has remained strong, with store sales in local currencies increasing by 10% between August 1 and September 20.
The group opened 173 new stores during the six month period, bringing the total number to 4,780 stores in 77 countries.
It continued its expansion into Asia, opening three Zara stores in Delhi and Mumbai, in India during its second quarter. Asia stores now account for 15% of Inditex’s sales. Europe, excluding Spain, accounts for 45% of sales, followed by Spain (28%) and the Americas (12%).
Zara launched online shopping in the UK in September, and plans to starts selling in Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg during the second half of this year, and to the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan during its 2011 financial year.
No comments yet