Shopper carrying two large shopping bags from the clothing retailer Zara on Oxford Street on 5th February 2024 in London, United Kingdom. Oxford Street is a major retail centre in the West End of the capital and is Europes busiest shopping street with around half a million daily visitors to its approximately 300 shops, the majority of which are fashion and high street clothing stores. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images
Shares of Zara owner Inditex hit record highs on Wednesday according to LSEG data, climbing by over 6% during intraday trade, after the company announced its 2023 full-year results.
As of 11:50 London time, shared were just over 6% higher at 43.58 euros ($47.69).
Sales increased by 10.4% to 35.9 billion euros for the year, the company said, signaling this was a record high. Sales grew across all geographic regions and across Inditex’s brands and were “very satisfactory,” both online and in store, the company said.
A total of 5,692 stores were operational at the end of the year, Inditex said, adding it plans to expand further in 2024 — including with Zara shops in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The company also plans to open new distribution centers in 2024 and 2025, as part of a major logistics expansion plan, that will cost the company investments of 900 million euro in both years.
Net income also reached a fresh high, after soaring by 30.3% from 2022 to reach 5.4 billion euros last year. The company’s gross profit came in at 20.8 billion euros, up by 11.9% on the year.
“Inditex’s performance in 2023 has been excellent. Our teams have been able to take advantage of the opportunities to keep growing profitably. We are investing to drive future growth and continue to offer an attractive remuneration to shareholders,” Inditex CEO Oscar García Maceiras said in a statement.
The Spanish clothing company owns a range of vastly popular brands including household name Zara, as well as Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, premium retailer Massimo Dutti and sports and the athleisure-focused Oysho.
Zara, including the Zara Home range, was the biggest contributor to sales in 2023, followed by Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, Inditex said on Wednesday.
The company also indicated that 2024 was off to a strong start, with sales in constant currency up 11% over the Feb. 1-March 11 stretch, compared with the same period a year earlier.
