Shoppers carry Zara brand bags on Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, December 16, 2022.
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Zara owner Inditex said on Wednesday that it will increase its net profit by 27% in 2022 as sales exceed pre-pandemic levels in the first year since Marta Ortega, the daughter of founder Amancio Ortega, took the helm of the company.
In-store and online sales for the world’s largest 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.
The company’s net income rose to 4.1 billion euros ($4.40 billion).
The fashion giant’s earnings were in line with analysts’ expectations as the company benefited from shoppers’ appetite for fashion in the post-Covid era.
In early spring, Zara raised prices by 5% or more to reduce inflation, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, UBS and Royal Bank of Canada. The move didn’t stop demand for his clothes.
Inditex’s strong results will appease initial investor concerns about Marta Ortega replacing Veteran Pablo Isla as a non-executive chair in April, in a generational handover that began a decade ago when her father retired.