Zara owner Inditex sees early autumn sales perk up after summer slowdown
Company reports 10% rise in first-half profit
Shares outperform with rise of 4% on results
Wet, cold weather in early summer hampered sales
August, Sept. sales up 11% so far, outpacing 7.2% in first half
Recasts lead; adds shares paragraph 2, CEO paragraphs 6,8,9 analysts' quotes, detail throughout
By Corina Pons
MADRID, Sept 11 (Reuters) -Zara owner Inditex ITX.MC reported a jump in sales of its autumn/winter collection on Wednesday, boosting its share price as the world's largest listedfashion retailer recovered from a summer marred by poor weather.
Shares in Spain's Inditex were up 4.6% by 0855 GMT, outperforming the IBEX35 .IBEX which was up 1.1%.
Inditex said its sales between Aug. 1 and Sept. 8 saw an 11% boost in constant currency compared with a year ago. In the first half, sales growth had slowed to 7.2% from 13.5% in the same period a year ago, partly due to a wet and cold June in its home market.
Analysts had anticipated a rebound in the third quarter after the poor weather in June dashed Zara's hopes for a bumper second quarter.
Sweden's H&M HMb.ST said in June itssales for that monthwere likely to fall 6% in local currencies versus a year ago, partly due to theworse weather in many markets, while Primark ABF.L said on September 5 the wet weather in Britain hit its summer sales.
Inditex reported a 10% rise in first-half profit to 2.8 billion euros ($3.09 billion) and sales of 18.1 billion euros to the end of July. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected a profit of 2.77 billion euros on 18 billion euros in sales.
"We have full confidence in our ability to grow this business, mainly because of the unique model," CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras told an analyst call, adding that the company's strength in online sales owed much to the operational support of stores.
The retailer has fought to stay ahead of competitors such as H&M and fast-growing Chinese fashion rival Shein by investing in logistics and technology to deliver fashion faster and by keeping prices low on everyday items.
A new logistics centre in Zaragoza, Spain, is expected to open in May or June 2025, Maceiras said, and the retailer will renovate some of its Chinese and Spanish flagship stores while expanding its Massimo Dutti brand in the U.S. and Bershka in India.
Maceiras said Zara would expand its pre-owned app-based service to the United States in October of this year, which allows customers to sell, donate or repair items. It aims to cover all key markets by 2025.
Zara will also be engaging customers with live shopping broadcasts in key markets such as Spain, the U.S., France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada in the coming months, after success in China.
The company reported a gross margin of 58.3% for the period, 19 percentage points higher than in the same period last year.
"The first-half gross margin shows a lower-than-expected cost growth," said RBC analyst Richard Chamberlain in a note.
According to analysts and investors, Inditex is better protected from supply chain headwinds in Asia than rivals because half of its products are sourced close to Spain.
"A seasonal phenomenon such as the weather does not affect Inditex's business in the long run," said Xavier Brun, portfolio manager at Madrid-based Trea Asset Management, which holds Inditex shares. "We're looking at the long term and its U.S. strategy. We believe it can grow a lot in that market."
In the U.S., its second biggest market, Zara is raising prices more slowly than in the past and less than H&M in the second quarter, with prices for jeans up 2% on the year compared with an 8% rise at H&M, according to retail analytics firm EDITED.
"(On) a three-to-five year view, Inditex is the best fashion retailer in the whole brick-and-mortar space, as well as online," said fund manager Vera Diehl of Union Investment, who considers Inditex's gap with H&M and Shein has widened.
($1 = 0.9050 euros)
Zara raises average prices at a slower pace than H&M https://tmsnrt.rs/3XBXrbv
Reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by David Latona, Jamie Freed and Elaine Hardcastle
संबंधित परिसंपत्तियाँ
ताजातरीन समाचार
अस्वीकरण: XM Group के सत्व केवल निष्पादन वाली सेवा और हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा में पहुँच प्रदान करते हैं, ताकि व्यक्ति वेबसाइट पर या उसके जरिए उपलब्ध सामग्री को देख सके और/या उसका उपयोग कर सके। इसका प्रयोजन इसे बदलना या विस्तार देना नहीं है, न ही वह इसे बदलता या विस्तार देता है। इस तरह की पहुँच हमेशा ही निम्नलिखित के अधीन रहेगी: (1) नियम और शर्तें; (2) जोखिम चेतावनियाँ; और (3) पूर्ण अस्वीकरण। इसलिए ऐसी जानकारी सामान्य सूचना से अधिक कुछ भी नहीं है। विशेष रूप से, कृपया इससे अवगत रहें कि हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा की सामग्रियाँ न तो किसी चीज का अनुरोध करती हैं, न ही वित्तीय बाजारों में प्रवेश करने की पेशकश ही करती हैं। किसी भी वित्तीय बाजार में व्यापार करने के साथ आपकी पूँजी को उल्लेखनीय जोखिम है।
हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा में प्रकाशित सभी सामग्रियाँ शैक्षणिक/सूचनात्मक प्रयोजनों मात्र के लिए हैं, और इनमें वित्तीय, निवेश टैक्स या व्यापार सलाह और सुझाव नहीं हैं - न ही ऐसा समझना चाहिए कि इनमें ये सब हैं; न ही इनमें हमारी व्यापार कीमतों का अभिलेख है; न ही इनमें किसी वित्तीय उपकरण में लेन-देन करने का निमंत्रण या अनुरोध है; न ही ये आपको अवांछित वित्तयी प्रोमोशन पेश करती हैं।
इस वेबसाइट में मौजूद कोई भी तृतीय पक्षीय सामग्री, तथा XM द्वारा तैयार की गई सामग्रियाँ, जैसे: अभिप्राय, समाचार, अनुसंधान, विश्लेषण, कीमतें और अन्य सूचनाएँ या तृतीय पक्षों की साइटों के लिंक, "जैसा-है-वैसा" के आधार पर बाजार के बारे में सामान्य टिप्पणी के रूप में उपलब्ध कराई गई हैं, और वे निवेश हेतु सलाह नहीं हैं। जिस हद तक कीसी सामग्री को निवेश अनुसंधान मान लिया जाता है, उस हद तक आपको ध्यान में रखना होगा और इसे स्वीकार करना होगा कि वह सामग्री इस उद्देश्य से और निवेश अनुसंधान की स्वतंत्रता को बढ़ावा देने के लिए कानूनी आवश्यकताओं के मुताबिक, तैयार नहीं की गई है, और इसलिए उसे प्रासंगिक कानूनों और विनियमों के तहत विपणन संप्रेषण माना जाएगा। कृपया सुनिश्चित करें कि आपने गैर-आश्रित निवेश के बारे में हमारी सूचना को पढ़ और समझ लिया है। पीछे दी गई जानकारी के बारे में अनुसंधान और जोखिम चेतावनी यहाँ उपलब्ध है।
