INDITEX, THE Spanish clothes retailer, yesterday unveiled a slight drop in profits for the nine months to the end of October, as aggressive expansion into Asia helped offset weakness in the domestic market.
The company, which competes with Gap of the US as the world’s largest fashion retailer by sales, said net profits for the period were €831 million, compared with €843 million at the same stage last year.
Sales climbed 6 per cent, to €7.8 billion, as the group opened new stores in Japan, China and South Korea. Measured in local currencies – stripping out the impact of the strong euro – sales growth was 8 per cent. The company, creator of the popular Zara line of smart, affordable clothing, does not give a same-store sales breakdown at the nine-month stage.
However, these appeared to be down by between 1 per cent and 2 per cent for the period, although there were signs of improvement in the third quarter to end-October, according to some analysts’ calculations.
They also noted accelerated sales growth in the lead-up to Christmas, which could translate into positive same-store figures in the fourth quarter. – (Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009)
