Inditex sees turnover and profit rise

Increased turnover thanks to new stores

In
the first six months of 2013, Inditex increased its total sales 5.7%
compared to the same period last year: the weak spring period,
because of the bad weather in Western Europe, did not affect the
sales too much. Taking local currencies into account, the increase is
even more impressive, reaching 8%.

Expanding
the number of stores partly contributed greatly to the increase:Inditex opened 95 new stores in the past six months, reaching 6,104
stores in 86 different markets. Additionally, good results in
upcoming markets like China also helped Inditex, compensating the
weaker results in its home market Spain.

Profits
survive increasingly expensive resources

The
first half of 2013 resulted in a net profit of 951 million euro: the0.7% increase outgrew all analysts’ expectations, as 2012 was
already a record year. However, Inditex’ gross margin dropped from
59.6% to 58.6%, partly because of rising resource costs.

Analystsexpect a good second half of 2013, thanks to a better summer and an
increased consumer confidence – even in Spain. A strong euro could
slow down possible results though.

Inditex
also keeps on opening new stores, both online and offline. Its online
operation has now expanded to 22 countries, with Zara opening a
Russian web shop in August and Massimo Duti and Zara Home launching
websites in Canada.