Zara Owner Inditex Posts Slower Profit Rise

Spanish retail giant Inditex said Wednesday net profit rose 4.0 percent during the first nine months of its fiscal year, a slower gain than last year due in part to recent warm weather.

Madrid, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2018 ) :Spanish retail giant Inditex said Wednesday net profit rose 4.0 percent during the first nine months of its fiscal year, a slower gain than last year due in part to recent warm weather.

The company, the owner of the popular brand Zara and one of the world's largest fashion retailers, posted a net profit of 2.44 billion Euros ($2.77 billion) in the February to October period, up from 2.34 billion euros a year earlier.

The results were in line with analysts' expectations but they represented a slowdown from the 6.0 percent increase in net profit posted during the previous nine-month period.

Inditex, which launched online sales for Zara in 106 new markets last month, said sales overall climbed 3.0 percent to 18.4 billion euros.

The company -- whose brands include Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Bershka and Oysho -- said the period was marked by an "extraordinarily warm September" in Europe which slowed the start of its autumn-winter collection although sales were strong in November.

Based in Arteixo, a small town in the northwest of Spain, Inditex makes over half of its clothes in factories close to its main markets --- in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Turkey and Eastern Europe.