Every day between last February and July Inditex has earned almost 14 million euros. Zara's matrix is a money-making machine that has chained six quarters, breaking its own record. In the last semester it registered a net profit of 2,513 million euros, 40.1% more than in the same period a year earlier, as reported by the company this Wednesday. Neither inflation nor the global economic situation has stopped the textile empire chaired by Marta Ortega, whose results have exceeded the forecasts of all analysts.
Thus, sales grew by 13.5% and reached 16,851 million euros, with a "very satisfactory" evolution both in store and online and increases in all geographical areas and in all formats, while sales to constant exchange rate grew by 16.6%.
The gross operating result (Ebitda), for its part, grew by 15.7%, up to 4,663 million euros, while the gross margin grew by 14.1%, up to 9,801 million euros, and stood at 58 .2% of sales (27 basis points compared to the first half of the previous year).
"The results in this semester demonstrate that the talent of our teams consolidates the improvements in the performance of the business model. The permanent commitment to creativity, product quality and customer experience, as well as the determined progress in sustainability, make up a strategy that takes our business model to a higher level," highlighted the CEO of Inditex, Oscar García Maceiras.
The company founded by Amancio Ortega has highlighted that in the first half of the year it continued its "strong operational performance", supported by the creativity of its teams and the "good execution" of its integrated store and online business model, while at the same time has stressed that the collections of the spring-summer campaign were very well received by customers. Between February and July, Inditex undertook openings in 20 markets. At the end of the period, it operated 5,745 stores. Likewise, the net financial position grew by 14.1% over 1H2022, up to 10,546 million euros at the end of the first half of fiscal 2023.
Due to strong operational performance during this period and the normalization of supply chain conditions, inventory was reduced by 6.9% as of July 31, 2023 compared to the same date last year. On the other hand, the company has highlighted that all expense lines have shown a favorable evolution. Thus, operating expenses grew by 12.5%, below the growth in sales; including all lease charges, 220 basis points below sales growth.
Regarding the second semester, the company has highlighted that the collections of the autumn-winter campaign have been very well received by its customers. Thus, in-store and online sales at a constant exchange rate between August 1 and September 11, 2023 have grown by 14% compared to the same period in 2022. Inditex has stressed that it continues to see "great opportunities for future growth", so in the current year it is making investments to increase operational capacity, obtain efficiencies and increase differentiation to the next level. Specifically, it estimates ordinary investments of around 1.6 billion euros in 2023.
