Zara owner Inditex sees profits helped by Spanish recovery

Inditex, which also owns Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka, added 94 new outlets around the world in the first half of the year, majority under the Zara and Zara Home brands.

“A stellar start to the quarter”, said Bernstein analyst Jamie Merriman, noting that 16 percent growth for the past six weeks compared with 10 percent for the same period in 2014.

Inditex results come on the heels of rival Hennes & Mauritz, who on Tuesday reported its weakest monthly sales growth in August in more than two years citing exceptionally warm weather in many of its large European markets.

Zara, Inditex’s crown jewel, remains ever in demand as its online arm expands and additional stores pop up in Asia. But Zara was able to respond more quickly to the changing weather as it sources its garments close to where it sells them, Reuters said.

In the months from February to July, sales climbed 17% to €9.42 billion, also meeting expectations and underpinned by a weak euro versus the dollar. Revenue spiked 17% to €9.4bn, helped by increased sales across all its geographical markets.

Inditex, whose shares rose as much as 3.5 percent, has opened more than 400 stores annually on average over the past five years. About 60% of all of Zara’s sales were in Europe in the latest half-year period, with Spain alone accounting for about a fifth of total sales.