Inditex speeds up again: first quarter profit up 10%

Inditex recovers the path in the first semester of 2019. The parent company of Zara has concluded the first three months of exercise (from February to April) with a raise of 10% in its net result, which has positioned in 734 million euros, against the 668 million euros of the same period of the previous year.

Group’s sales, for its part, have registered an increase of 5%, up to 5,927 million euros. At constant exchange rates, sales raised 5%. “The sale in the second half of the quarter was affected by the adverse weather conditions as reflected on the sectorial statistics in different market - has explained the company to the National Stock Market Comission (Cnmv in Spanish)-; with the return of the normal market conditions, sales have returned to the previous levels”.

The gross operating result (ebitda) of Inditex in the first quarter positioned in 1,675 million euros, in comparison with the 1,125 million euros of the first quarter of 2018. Discounting the effects of the new countable regulation on leasing (NIIF 16), the ebitda’s raise would have been of 9%.

The ebit, for its part, would have grown 7%. At the closure of the first quarter, Inditex accumulated an ebit of 980 million euros, in front of the 851 million euros of the same period of 2018. The gross margin of the company raised up to 3,524 million euros, 6% more than in the same period of previous exercise, positioning in the 59.5% of the sales, against the 58.9% registered in the first quarter of 2018.

The next 16 July, as it was planned, the group’s general stakeholders meeting will pass, predictably, the appointment of Carlos Crespo as CEO of the company. The current general director of the company will be responsible for the areas of technology (systems, data and digital), security of the information, logistics and transport, works, legal consulting, purchase and recruitment, and sustainability.