Zara owner Inditex’s profit jump in first year with Marta Ortega at helm

MADRID, March 15 (Reuters) – Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) on Wednesday posted a 27% net profit increase in 2022 as sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first full year since Marta Ortega, daughter of founder Amancio Ortega, took over at the helm of the company.

In-store and online sales for the world’s biggest fashion retailer reached 32.6 billion euros ($34.99 billion), 18% more than the 27.71 billion euros posted last year and 15% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic hit.

The company net income soared to 4.1 billion euros ($4.40 billion).

The fashion giant revenues were in line with what analysts expected as the company benefited from shoppers’ appetite for fashion in the post-Covid period.

Early in the spring Zara had raised its prices by 5% or more to mitigate inflation, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, UBS and Royal Bank of Canada. The move didn’t curb the demand for its garments.

Inditex’s strong results will appease initial investor concerns about Marta Ortega succeeding the veteran Pablo Isla as non-executive chair in April, in a generational handover that began a decade ago when her father retired.

($1 = 0.9316 euros)

Reporting by Corina Pons, edited by Inti Landauro

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