Zara owner Inditex reports record sales as shoppers snap up new fashion lines

13 March 2024 , 11:46

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Zara owner Inditex has reported record annual sales (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Zara's parent company, Inditex, has announced record-breaking sales and a big jump in profits.

The company, which also owns Bershka and Pull & Bear, said it had an "excellent" year. They made 35.9 billion euros (£30.7 billion) in sales in 2023, up from 32.6 billion euros (£27.9 billion) the year before. Sales went up by 14.1% when you don't count changes in money values.

The neew spring and summer clothing lines are already proving popular with customers and sales have started strongly, the company said. Inditex, with almost 5,700 shops worldwide, saw online shopping grow faster than in-store shopping.

Now they are trying to update their shops so they are more suited to the digital age with Zara trying out self-checkouts in some shops, Pull & Bear has a new video shopping app and the company also putting in new security tech to stop theft, replacing old security tags with tiny chips.

Inditex's profit before tax went up by over 28% to 6.9 billion euros (£5.9 billion). Their earnings before interest, taxes, and other costs were the highest ever at 9.9 billion euros (£8.5 billion).

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Inditex, the company behind Zara, had to cut costs because it stopped doing business in Russia in 2022. Chief executive Oscar Garcia Maceiras, said that Inditex is really careful with its money and keeps costs low.

"Inditex's performance in 2023 has been excellent. Our teams have been able to take advantage of the opportunities to keep growing profitably. We are investing to drive future growth and continue to offer an attractive remuneration to shareholders."

The company sells most of its clothes in Europe but also has shops in America and Asia. Inditex plans to keep making cool clothes, like leather for Zara women, linen for Zara Home, and suits for Bershka. They're spending about 900 million euros (£770 million) on new warehouses as part of a plan to grow over two years. They also want to open about 50 stores in Ukraine in 2024.

Lawrence Matheson