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☆ Zara owner Inditex climbs to all-time high as 2023 sales jump 10%
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shopper carrying two large shopping bags from the clothing retailer Zara on Oxford Street on 5th February 2024 in London, United Kingdom. Oxford Street is a major retail centre in the West End of the capital and is Europes busiest shopping street with around half a million daily visitors to its approximately 300 shops, the majority of which are fashion and high street clothing stores. Sales increased by 10.4% to 35.9 billion euros for the year, the company said, signaling this was a record high. Net income also reached a fresh high, after soaring by 30.3% from 2022 to reach 5.4 billion euros last year. Zara, including the Zara Home range, was the biggest contributor to sales in 2023, followed by Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, Inditex said on Wednesday.

Persons: Zara, Mike Kemp, Inditex, Oscar García Maceiras, Bershka, Massimo Dutti Organizations: United Kingdom ., Getty, Las Locations: London, United Kingdom, Zara, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Spanish

☆ Inditex can afford to start sharing its cash pile
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An employee arranges clothes at one of the largest Zara stores in the world, in Madrid, Spain, April 7, 2022. REUTERS/Juan Medina/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Marta Ortega is facing a test on Inditex’s (ITX.MC) bulging cash pile. In the same period, Inditex delivered 2.5 billion euros of net profit, up 40% year-on-year. Still, growing profits mean its cash pile will only get larger. Net cash is expected to balloon to 12 billion euros by year-end, LSEG data show.

Persons: Juan Medina, Marta Ortega, Massimo Dutti, Inditex, Ortega, Inditex’s, Aimee Donnellan, BoE, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Reuters Graphics Reuters, X, Treasury, UBS, Warner Bros Discovery, Thomson Locations: Zara, Madrid, Spain, Asia

Inditex shares have risen around 64% over the past 12 months as the world's biggest clothing retailer successfully passed cost increases on to shoppers and reported record profit margins. But after several U.S. retailers including Macy's and Foot Locker warned of weak consumer spending, fears of an economic slowdown have come back into focus. "I think companies will be more disciplined and will reduce pricing where they think they can gain volumes," said Fabio Di Giansante, portfolio manager at Amundi, which holds shares in Inditex. In the six months to July last year, Inditex's sales increased by 25% and profits climbed by 41% - but that was in comparison with a period marked by COVID-19 lockdowns around the world. According to Bernstein analysts, Inditex's key rival H&M (HMb.ST), set to report third-quarter sales on Friday, has pushed through more price increases than peers over the past year.

Persons: Inditex, Locker, Inditex's, Fabio Di Giansante, Geoffroy De Mendez, De Mendez, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Bernstein, Amundi's Di Giansante, Helen Reid, Corina Pons, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Macy's, Inditex . Bank of America, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Zara, Amundi, Inditex ., U.S, London, Madrid

In-store and online sales rose 13% to 7.6 billion euros in the first quarter, in line with the 13.5% seen in the first six weeks of the financial year. The company said it plans to invest 1.6 billion euros to increase gross store space in 2023 by about 3%. Inditex closed its over 500 stores in Russia in March 2022 following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February and subsequent Western sanctions. Inditex has begun to charge for online returns in more countries with no impact on sales, the company said. Inditex is also invested in more self-scanning checkouts and is replacing hard anti-theft tags with chips sewn into garments to avoid checkout queues.

Persons: Inditex, Massimo Dutti, Anne Critchlow, Jelena Sokolova, Zara, Corina Pons, Helen Reid, Charlie Devereux, Matt Scuffham, Josephine Mason, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Spain Company, Societe Generale, Inditex, Group, Morningstar, Thomson Locations: Spain, MADRID, LONDON, Zara, United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, UAE, France, Germany

Net profit came in at 1.2 billion euros ($1.24 billion) for the quarter that ended in April, exceeding analysts' average expectations of 980 million euros in a Refinitiv poll. Inditex reported solid sales, in line with analyst expectations of 7.56 billion euros, even after selling its profitable Russian division in 2022 and absorbing higher labour costs. Part of Inditex's strategy, which also owns Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti, is to maintain higher prices outside the Eurozone. STEADY MARGINSThe gross margin reached a record 60.5%, showing it has been able to pass on higher prices to shoppers. Analysts believe only the strongest global fashion retailers will gain market share in an environment where consumers are becoming more discerning.

Persons: Inditex, Massimo Dutti, Corina Pons, Helen Reid, Charlie Devereux, Matt Scuffham, Josephine Mason Organizations: Thomson Locations: MADRID, LONDON, Zara, Spain, United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Europe

☆ Investors punish Zara owner Inditex over spending plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As the cost of making garments increased, H&M took a profit hit while Inditex was able to pass on costs to shoppers. But higher expected capital expenditure for 2023, of 1.6 billion euros, surprised investors, sending Inditex shares down more than 5% by 1140 GMT. An Inditex logo is seen at the entrance of a Zara factory, the headquarters of Inditex group, in Arteixo, northern Spain, March 9, 2016. Inditex closed stores in mainland China at double its average rate, shutting a fifth of its shops there in 2022. Meanwhile Inditex plans to continue expanding in the United States, with at least 30 new projects planned from 2023 to 2025.

☆ Zara owner Inditex invests in tech to speed future sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Inditex has extended its lead over Swedish rival H&M (HMb.ST), in part because of a less price-sensitive customer base. As the cost of making garments increased, H&M took a profit hit while Inditex was able to pass on costs to shoppers. In-store and online sales rose 18% to 32.6 billion euros ($34.99 billion) from 2021 and were 15% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic hit. Excluding Russia, where Inditex stores have been closed since the Ukraine conflict started just over a year ago, sales in that period were up 17.5% in constant currency terms. Inditex also delivered a surprise, but by hiking capital expenditure to 1.6 billion euros from 1.1 billion euros previously.

☆ Zara owner Inditex sees 2023 sales keep pace, but capex plans disappoint
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In-store and online sales for the world's biggest fashion retailer rose 18% to 32.6 billion euros ($34.99 billion) from 2021 and were 15% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic hit. The pace of sales continued in the first six weeks of Inditex's current fiscal year to Jan. 31, 2024. Between Feb. 1 and March 13, Inditex said sales jumped by 13.5% from the same period a year earlier. Excluding Russia, where Inditex stores have been closed since the Ukraine conflict started just over a year ago, sales in that period increased by 17.5% in constant currency terms. But Inditex surprised investors with a hike in capital expenditure to 1.6 billion euros from 1.1 billion euros in the previous year, a higher level than expected by the market.

☆ Zara owner Inditex's profit jumps in Marta Ortega's first year in charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, March 15 (Reuters) - Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) on Wednesday posted a 27% increase in net profits in 2022 as sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first full year since Marta Ortega, daughter of founder Amancio Ortega, took over as company chair. Between Feb. 1 and March 13, Inditex said its sales jumped by 13.5% from the same period a year earlier. The 2022 revenues were in line with analysts' expectations as the company benefited from shoppers' appetite for fashion as COVID-19 lockdowns ended. The results may also lessen investor doubts about Marta Ortega succeeding the veteran Pablo Isla as non-executive chair in April, in a generational handover that began a decade ago when her father retired. Also on Wednesday, rival H&M (HMb.ST) reported a 12% increase in net sales for its December-February period.

☆ Zara shoppers are crowding back to the brand's stores, and it's sending sales skyrocketing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Zara shoppers flocked to stores in 2022, giving a major sales boost to parent company Inditex. Inditex reported a 23% increase in store sales last year despite closing 10% of its stores. Zara shoppers have long complained that stores are crowded and checkout lines are unusually long. "A key factor of the year has been that traffic and store sales increased markedly," García Maceiras said. The US is a key market for Inditex, García Maceiras said, and has potential to provide a "significant" boost to the retailer's business long-term.

☆ Zara is opening or revamping nearly 30 stores in the US by 2025 — here's where they're located
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Inditex is planning to open at least 10 new Zara stores across the US by 2025. At least a dozen other Zara locations will be revamped or enlarged, the retailer said. "This is a market in which for every $100 of fashion sold, we take less than $0.50 of that," García Maceiras said. Foot traffic is up at Zara stores around the world, and Inditex reported a 23% jump in store sales in 2022 across its portfolio of brands, which includes Zara, Bershka, and Massimo Dutti. Inditex plans to invest 1.6 billion euros, about $1.7 billion, in expanding its stores and warehouses worldwide, including a new Zara store on Paris' Champs Elysées, and at least 10 new locations across the US.

☆ Top brands pull out of Russia, but their goods remain easy to find
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexander Marrow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Brands' continued availability shows the challenge companies face in controlling supply chains when exiting a market. Market leader Wildberries sells old stock from Inditex brands and has almost 17,000 goods in its Zara catalogue. Informal supply routes could lead to more poor-quality goods entering Russia, however, as regulators lose oversight, Ben Tzion said. IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA Group said it sold remaining stock for an undisclosed amount to Yandex as it down-scaled IKEA Retail Russia. IKEA said it was looking into goods being advertised as similar to IKEA online.

☆ Zara owner Inditex agrees to 20% pay rise in Spain -union groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Zara owner Inditex reached an agreement to raise salaries in its Spanish stores by an average 20%, Spain's two largest unions, CCOO and UGT, said on Thursday night. The salary increases reached as much as 40% in the areas of Spain that were the least well paid, UGT said in a statement. Union groups said Inditex also agreed to continue increasing salaries in line with inflation over the next three years. In November, Inditex had agreed with UGT and CCOO to pay a one-off bonus of 1,000 euros in February for all full-time shop assistants employed across Spain, and now it has agreed to pay the same bonus next year. Inditex employs 165,000 people in 177 countries, with a third of all staff based in Spain, according to its annual report.

☆ Zara starts charging for clothing returns from home in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Fashion giant Zara has started charging shoppers in Spain for returns of online purchases, the company announced on Wednesday, though store returns remain free. However, items bought online can still be returned for free at physical stores, it added. Inditex, (ITX.MC) which owns Zara, will also introduce return charges in Spain for its other brands such as Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear. Early last year, Zara introduced charges for some online returns in Britain and other core markets, following similar measures from rivals such as Uniqlo or Next. Inditex expects online sales to exceed 30% of total sales by 2024.

☆ Zara workers in Spain start protests to demand higher pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Dozens of Zara shop assistants protested in Madrid on Thursday outside the global fashion giant's largest store to demand higher pay, and some workers in its home town in northwest Spain went on strike on the eve of its Black Friday sales campaign. In the town of A Coruna, where the first Zara store opened in 1975, Inditex now has 44 stores. Two of those, a Zara store and a Massimo Dutti shop were closed on Thursday, and some 1,000 shopworkers were preparing to go on a one-day strike the following day on Black Friday. Shop assistants' monthly wages at Inditex stores in Madrid and A Coruna are below 1,400 euros, according to the unions. "If we don't get better wages we will call for more protests in December and January," she said.

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