Fresh autumn and winter collections gave Zara parent company Inditex momentum in the third quarter. Spanish sales also continued to rise during the Christmas business at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Sales online and in shops between the beginning of November and the beginning of December increased by 10.6 percent, adjusted for currency effects, compared to the same period last year, as the Spaniards listed in the Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 announced on Wednesday in Arteixo. This further accelerated business.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the textile chain with brands such as Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka reported a good response to new fashion. In the first nine months of the financial year (until the end of October), revenue climbed by 2.7 percent to 28.2 billion euros. That was a little more than analysts expected. The group continued to be burdened by the strong euro. Compared to the first half of the year, the group increased its growth; in the third quarter it was 8.4 percent after adjusting for currency effects.
Inditex (Industria di Diseno Textil) was also able to slightly exceed market expectations in terms of operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), with an increase of 4.8 percent to 5.9 billion euros. The bottom line is that net profit rose by almost four percent to 4.6 billion euros. Management continues to expect a largely stable gross margin for the year as a whole and is anticipating a headwind from currency fluctuations of four percentage points in sales.
The share gained around two percent premarket on the Tradegate trading platform.