The world leader in ready-to-wear Inditex, owner of the Zara brand, posted the highest profit in its history last year, despite the impact of the war in Ukraine and high inflation on its activity.
In its staggered fiscal year, which ended on January 31, the Spanish inexpensive clothing giant earned 4.13 billion euros (4.05 billion francs) in net profits, an increase of 27% compared to 2021 (3.24 billion).
This figure also exceeds the level of 2019 (3.64 billion euros), the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a “historic maximum” for the company, Inditex said in a statement on Wednesday.
This dynamic was made possible by a strong increase in sales, which reached a record level of 32.56 billion euros, or 17% more than in 2021 (27.7 billion), specifies the press release.
These results are in line with the expectations of analysts polled by the financial information provider Factset, who expected an average of 32.5 billion euros in turnover for 4.17 billion in net profit.
It highlights “the solidity of the business model” of Inditex, in a delicate macroeconomic context, underlines the general manager of the group, Oscar García Maceiras, quoted in the press release.
The Spanish group, owner of eight brands, including Zara, Bershka and Massimo Dutti, saw its production costs rise sharply last year, due to soaring global inflation.
The group with 165,000 employees also suffered from the war in Ukraine, which led it to suspend its activity in its 514 stores in Russia, until then its second largest market in the world after Spain.
Under a deal announced at the end of October, these stores were sold to the Emirati Daher Group, which owns the Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the United Arab Emirates.
In view of the good results of 2022, the textile group – piloted for a year by Marta Ortega, daughter of the multi-billionaire and founder of Inditex Amancio Ortega – says it envisages “great opportunities for growth” in 2023.
Between February 1 and March 13, sales increased by 13.5% compared to the same period of 2022, both in stores and on the internet, he says.
/ATS