Zara Owner Inditex Sees Sales Recovery
Spanish textile titan Inditex, owner of global fashion retailer Zara, posted Tuesday a higher than expected net profit in its third quarter as sales recovered from the disruption caused by the pandemic.
The group, which also owns the Bershka and Massimo Dutti brands, recorded a net profit of 866 million euros ($1.05 billion) in the three months from August to October, a 26 percent drop from the same time last year.
Analysts surveyed by financial information service Factset had expected a net profit of 821 million euros.
Sales reached 6.0 billion euros, up from 4.7 billion euros on the previous three months, the company said in a statement.
But they were still far lower than the 19 billion euros in sales recorded during its third quarter of last year before the pandemic forced the closure of stores around the world.
"These results are the direct consequence of effective management in every area of the company and the ability to react and adapt in an unpredictable environment," Inditex executive chairman Pablo Isla said in the statement.
The company said 5.0 percent of its stores were closed during the third quarter and "trading restrictions" affected 88 percent of its retail network.
It said a fresh round of restrictions and closures began in mid-October as Covid-19 infections rose in many nations.
In November, 21 percent of the company’s stores closed and as of now 8.0 percent remain shut, the company said.
Despite the store closures, sales in October had reached 94 percent of their level in the equivalent month of 2019.
Inditex posted a net loss of 409 million euros in its first quarter -- its first ever -- but returned to profit in the second.
Source: Agence France Presse
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