Net sales at fashion retail group Inditex, owner of Zara, Pull & Bear and Bershka, rose ten per cent during the third quarter of its financial year, it was revealed today.
Extensive international expansion helped the Spanish firm record an eight per cent year-on-year jump in EBITDA during the three months ending October 31st 2011, and a nine per cent increase in gross profit to €5.78 billion (£4.86 billion).
In the first nine months of the year Inditex opened 358 stores worldwide creating as many as 9,678 retail jobs in 78 different markets over this time.
A statement from the retailer today read: “The company‘s global multi-brand strategy paid off by delivering significant penetration of recently-opened markets by Inditex‘s younger formats.
“Bershka launched in six new countries and Oysho in four, while Pull & Bear, Stradivarius and Zara Home each entered in three new markets.”
Trading for Inditex has remained strong at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with store sales up by 11 per cent in local currencies between November 1st and December 11th, and the group‘s rapid growth shows no signs of slowing.
In China alone 79 stores have been opened in the year-to-date, bringing the total in the country to 250, with the Zara Home and Oysho brands newly launched in the area.
So far this year Taiwan, South Africa and Azerbaijan have all seen Inditex stores open for the first time and in the coming month the company is set to expand into Georgia and Peru.
Country-specific transactional websites have also been an area of growth for the firm, which now has online operations in 15 European markets.
The retailer‘s statement continued: “By the end of the third quarter of 2011, all Inditex retailers had arrived on the e-commerce scene, thanks to the launch on September 6th of online stores for Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe (Zara and Zara Home have had online shops since 2010 and 2007, respectively).
“In addition, Zara‘s online store premiered in two new markets, the United States (September 7th) and Japan (October 20th).”
