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☆ Spanish stocks outperform as Inditex jumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Spanish stocks rose on Wednesday after Zara-owner Inditex's strong quarterly showing, while its European peers lagged as luxury companies and miners dipped after weak China trade data. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) edged 0.2% lower, while Spain's IBEX 35 index (.IBEX) gained 0.6%, as of 0712 GMT. Inditex (ITX.MC) rose nearly 4% after it said sales of its spring-summer collection jumped by 16% over the past month. European retailers (.SXRP) jumped 2.2%, leading sectoral gains, while miners (.SXPP) shed 0.7%. Worries also remained of further interest rate hikes by major central banks, including the European Central Bank and U.S. Federal Reserve next week, in the face of slowing economic growth.

Persons: Shreyashi Sanyal, Sonia Cheema Organizations: European Central Bank, U.S . Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: Zara, China, Bengaluru

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

HONG KONG, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shein is threading the world’s trickiest geopolitical needle. But rising American pressure is forcing it to tweak its business model right as it tries to list there. Last year, its top line surged 46% to $23 billion, per the Wall Street Journal, surpassing $22 billion at H&M and outpacing the 18% growth at Inditex. A Boston Consulting Group report notes that this model allows Shein to keep inventory turnover at just 40 days. That will be expensive; the company's net profit margin was a razor-thin 3.5% last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, far below bricks and mortar rival Inditex's 13%.

Persons: Shein, Bernstein, Chris Xu, Xu, Mubadala, Pete Sweeney, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Rivals, Street, Financial Times, Boston Consulting, Morningstar, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street, ’, Singapore, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Zara, China, Inditex, Guangdong, U.S, Xinjiang, Nanjing, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, India

☆ Russian clothing brands plug gap left by Western rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Roman Churikov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People line up to enter an H&M store, which was reopened to sell the remaining stock before the company exits the Russian market, in Moscow, Russia August 2, 2022. Spain's Inditex (ITX.MC) has sold some of its more than 500 Russian stores to a UAE-based buyer. Gloria Jeans, once a re-seller of Levi's jeans, has taken over Swedish retailer H&M's central Moscow store. Russians have developed solutions with small-scale imports and online sellers helping to keep foreign brands alive, but some things remain difficult to find. Shopper Irina Nikulina said she did not miss foreign brands too much, except when needing something simple, like a reasonably priced white t-shirt.

Persons: Maxim, Spain's, Anton, Antonina, Oleg Klimov, Gloria Jeans, Ksenia Zhdanova, Zhdanova, Irina Nikulina, Tatiana Vakhonina, Roman Churikov, Lev Sergeev, Alexander Reshetnikov, Alexander Paramoshin, Alexander Marrow, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russia's, Shopping, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Ukraine, UAE, Zara, Soviet Union, Kazakhstan

☆ Ending the retailers’ crisis has a high price tag
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BARCELONA, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - High-street retailers are facing a heavy bill to weather the cost-of-living crisis. The cost of heating stores and staff requests for pay rises are squeezing operating margins at top players like H&M (HMb.ST) and Next (NXT.L). Shrinking disposable income is making it hard for these retailers to boost sales to protect margins. Most bricks-and-mortar retailers trade on higher multiples than they did before the war in Ukraine sparked soaring inflation. But that leaves a squeezed middle of retailers like H&M exposed to the brunt of the retail crisis.

☆ Retailers to tackle sustainability at key conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They will discuss the challenges facing their businesses as inflation causes consumers in Europe and elsewhere to reduce spending. The European Commission is drawing up new rules on textile waste that will make companies responsible for managing the waste their products create. Decathlon, the world's biggest sporting goods retailer, sells repair services, spare parts and tools for people to repair their own bicycles, tents, and kayaks. Retailers are working with local authorities ahead of an EU law that will require member states to separately collect textile waste by Jan. 1, 2025. Firms including Decathlon, Mango, Inditex, and IKEA recently created an association in Spain for the management of textile waste.

☆ Zara founder buys luxury apartment building in Dublin for $108 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, March 31 (Reuters) - Spanish billionaire and Zara founder Amancio Ortega has bought a luxury residential building with 120 apartments for rent in Dublin, Ireland, for around 100 million euros ($108 million), his private firm Pontegadea said on Friday. It is the first residential building that Ortega's firm has bought outside the United States, Pontegadea said, adding it was part of its strategy to invest in multiple real estate assets. The Opus 6 Hanover Quay building is at the heart of Silicon Docks, the nickname for Dublin's business and technology district, and offers luxury apartments and townhouses for long-term rent, according to the building's website. Pontegadea has focused on investing in real estate assets worldwide and in Spain's energy infrastructure. ($1 = 0.9189 euros)Reporting by Corina Pons Editing by David Latona and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Operating profit in the Swedish group's fiscal first quarter was 725 million Swedish crowns ($69.73 million) against a profit of 458 million crowns a year earlier. H&M's operating profit margin was 1.3%, up from 0.9% a year earlier. Helmersson said the company expects a gross margin recovery over the year and is making progress towards its goal of a 10% operating margin next year. Analysts at Credit Suisse said it would be "very challenging" for H&M to return to a 10% margin in 2024. H&M said net sales for March were expected to increase by 4% in local currencies compared with the corresponding period last year.

☆ Amazon, other retailers revamp 'free' shipping as costs soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerLOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) - There is no such thing as free shipping. "The days of free delivery are numbered," Ken Morris, managing partner at Cambridge Retail Advisors, said of the fast-changing retail marketing tool. It is an open secret that most retailers raise product prices to subsidize free shipping. Postal Service hitting record levels, the industry where nearly three-quarters of e-commerce companies offer some sort of free shipping is rethinking the financial cost of habituating shoppers to free shipping. While retailers like Amazon and fashion purveyor Asos Plc (ASOS.L) have raised thresholds for fast shipping, others are dropping free shipping altogether or taking product prices up again.

☆ 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.

☆ European shares sink as banks resume selloff, Credit Suisse hits new low
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 2.5% by 1118 GMT, languishing at 10-week lows, as was the banks sector index (.SX7P) after plunging nearly 6%. The bank index is set to lose more than 120 billion euros ($127.26 billion) in market value since the close of March 8. Shares of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) fell below 2 Swiss francs ($2.18) after the lender's biggest shareholder said it could not raise its 10% stake, citing regulatory issues. There was also a cooling of optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tone down its rate-hiking spree next week in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) collapse. Retailers (.SXRP) shed 5.0% after shares of Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC), the world's biggest fashion retailer, fell 5.2% as it flagged higher investment spending.

Shares in H&M were down 6% in early trade, underperforming the wider Swedish market (.OMXSPI). The Swedish group said sales measured in local currencies for the period, its fiscal first quarter, rose 3% from a year earlier. Jefferies said local-currency sales, the figures most watched by markets, were significantly lighter than consensus estimates and implied that sales in reality fell 3% in February. By contrast, market leader Inditex (ITX.MC) reported on Wednesday a 13.5% increase in Feb. 1 - March 13 sales and a 27% net profit increase for its fiscal year through January. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) said it expected continued input cost increases in the first quarter for the retailer and that it would stay under pressure into the second quarter.

☆ Spain's Mango plans U.S. expansion after China retreat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Spain, March 14 (Reuters) - Spanish fashion retailer Mango is focusing on U.S. expansion after turning its back on China, Chief Executive Officer Toni Ruiz said. It will target states where online sales are already strong. It maintains four franchise outlets and online sales through Alibaba's Tmall e-commerce platform. Mango reported record sales last year, helped by selling more items at higher prices. Its biggest rival, Inditex-owned label Zara (ITX.MC), is expected to report record sales on Wednesday, partly due to its aggressive U.S. expansion.

REUTERS/Miguel VidalA CORUNA, Spain/LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - In Spain's A Coruna, two contrasting fashion business models collide - pitching the growing demands for the clothing industry to become more sustainable against the constant need to drive sales. This rainy, windswept, city on the rugged Atlantic coast is the unlikely headquarters of Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC) - the world's biggest fast fashion retailer. It also hosts small boutiques offering high quality, durable products that consider themselves an alternative to the fast and affordable fashion propelling Inditex's annual sales of 28 billion euros ($30 billion). "If you release tonnes and tonnes of clothes, textiles, shoes into the market, you will have to collect it," he said. But Circ and its competitors are only capable of producing 1% of the textiles needed to make the 109 million tonnes of clothes per year that the global fashion industry churns out.

☆ 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.

☆ Shein's ambitions are a bit of a stretch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shein’s top-line growth slowed from 57% in 2021 to 45% last year; the company expects that to continue, with its 2025 target implying average annual expansion of 37%. Meanwhile, Shein's projected 13% profit margin dwarfs that of web retailers like China's JD.com (9618.HK). The $118 billion PDD (PDD.O) recently rolled out its Temu shopping service; it is now the most downloaded app in the United States. Using the same 2.4 times forecast 2025 sales multiple the Inditex enterprise trades on, Shein's valuation could top $140 billion. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

"High spot LNG prices and dwindling domestic production will mean that Pakistan will continue facing issues with ramping up gas-fired power generation," said Poorna Rajendran, LNG consultant at FGE. Despite LNG prices having fallen from last year's record highs, the superchilled fuel is still expensive for South Asian buyers as their currencies have weakened sharply, making it hard for them to boost LNG imports this year. Ship tracking data from Kpler shows Pakistan's LNG imports in 2022 fell 17% from the previous year to a five-year low. Bangladesh's LNG imports in 2022 fell 14% from the previous year, according to Kpler, which drove down power output while demand was rising. LNG prices are unlikely to ease enough to help Bangladesh and Pakistan, with analysts expecting a rebound in Chinese purchases to push prices up in 2023.

☆ 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.

☆ H&M highlights fast-fashion gloom as luxury takes hit in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shares in H&M, the world's No. 2 fashion retailer, fell as much as 6% in early trade after quarterly operating profit sank to 821 million Swedish crowns ($79.7 million) from 6.26 billion a year earlier. Zara has outperformed rivals after selling higher-priced garments and enticing shoppers who might have otherwise spent money at luxury stores. Disappointment over the impact of the China disruptions on its margins caused a record-breaking run in LVMH shares to briefly halt on Friday. The luxury industry is nevertheless expected to be one of the biggest winners from the loosening of restrictions that kept shoppers out of stores in China for months.

☆ Fashion retailer H&M's profit tumbles as costs bite
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Operating profit in the period, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer's fiscal fourth quarter, was 821 million crowns ($79.7 million) against 6.26 billion a year earlier and a mean forecast of 3.67 billion in a Refinitiv poll of analysts. The hit from quitting Russia, higher raw material, freight and energy costs, currency translation effects and the restructuring charge totalled around 5 billion crowns, Chief Executive Helena Helmersson said. H&M in September launched a drive to cut costs by 2 billion crowns annually, with savings from layoffs and other measures expected to start showing from the second half of 2023. The group flagged in November it would cut around 1,500 jobs and book a roughly 800 million crown restructuring charge in the fourth quarter for the programme. Britain's Superdry (SDRY.L) on Friday cut its profit forecast for this year as its wholesale business underperformed.

☆ H&M’s fast-fashion parade is skating on thin ice
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - H&M’s (HMb.ST) outfit is once again failing to impress. That corresponds to a meagre operating margin of 1.3%, a far cry from the around 15% margin larger rival Inditex (ITX.MC) is expected to report in its fourth quarter. H&M’s operating margins were already lingering in the mid-single-digit area before inflation became a problem. Sales growth of just 5% in December and January suggests the Swedish retailer is struggling to recover to its pre-crisis levels. If a recession curbs even more consumer spending, H&M’s profit margin may disappear.

☆ Zara shopworkers call off strikes in company's hometown after 25% pay rise - union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A union representing shop assistants at fashion retailer Zara has called off planned strikes in the company's hometown in northern Spain following an agreement on a 25% pay rise, a union leader said on Friday. "Our salaries as shop assistants will go up by 25% from January in A Coruña," Naveiro said. The deal also includes future pay increases of 20 euros in November 2023 and 40 euros in 2024, she added. Zara shop assistants' monthly salaries currently range between 1,058 euros and 1,400 euros in the city, the union leader said. CIG had pushed for a bigger pay rise after rejecting a hike of 200 euros in monthly salaries by 2024.

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