© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An Inditex logo is seen at the entrance of a Zara factory, the headquarters of the Inditex group, in Arteixo, northern Spain, March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal
By Corina Pons
MADRID (Reuters) – The owner of Zara inditex (BME:) posted a 27% increase in net profit in 2022 on Wednesday as sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first full year since Marta Ortega, daughter of founder Amancio Ortega, took over as president of the company.
Store and online sales of the world’s largest fashion retailer reached 32.6 billion euros (34.99 billion dollars), 18% more than the 27.71 billion euros registered the previous year and 15% more than in 2019, before the pandemic.
The Spanish group, whose brands also include Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, said sales continued to rise during the first weeks of its fiscal year that began on February 1.
Between February 1 and March 13, Inditex said its sales rose 13.5% over the same period a year earlier.
Revenue for 2022 was in line with analysts’ expectations as the company benefited from shopper appetite for fashion when the COVID-19 lockdowns ended.
Demand for Zara clothing continued even after a price increase of 5% or more early last year to mitigate inflation, according to analysts at german bank (ETR:), UBS and Royal Bank of Canada.
The results may also dispel investor doubts that Marta Ortega will succeed veteran Pablo Isla as non-executive chairman in April, in a generational handover that began a decade ago when her father retired.
Excluding the Russian operation, where its stores have been closed since the Ukraine conflict began just over a year ago, sales in the February 1-March 13 period were up 17.5% in constant currency.
Also on Wednesday, rival H&M reported a 12% rise in net sales for its December-February period.
($1 = 0.9316 euros)
