Inditex Reports Weaker Quarterly Results but Strong Holiday Start

MADRID (Reuters) – Zara owner Inditex (BME:ITX) announced a good start to the holiday season despite weaker than expected quarterly results influenced by rainy weather in key European markets.

The company, which includes the Zara brand among others, reported a 7% increase in sales to 27.4 billion euros ($28.84 billion) for the period, falling short of the 8% growth anticipated by analysts.

Inditex's net profit reached 4.44 billion euros for the first nine months of 2024, reflecting an 8.5% growth year-on-year. However, this figure was lower than the analysts' average expectation of 4.52 billion euros.

Despite these results, Inditex reported a strong start to the holiday season, with revenues rising 9% during the six weeks leading up to December 9. The world's largest fast-fashion retailer continued attracting shoppers while competitors faced challenges, although revenue growth during this period was slower than the previous year's 14% increase.

Marcos Lopez, Inditex's capital market director, emphasized the strong beginning of the last quarter despite facing a high benchmark from the same period in 2023. He noted that in constant currency, sales growth was 10.5% in the first nine months, and the growth in constant currency during the third quarter was the fastest of the year.

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