MTI reported that profits from Spain’s Inditex, which owns clothing chains Zara, Bershka and Pull & Bear, among others, fell sharply by 70 percent in the fiscal year ending in late January.
The world’s largest clothing retailer said on Wednesday its after-tax profit fell 70 percent to 1.11 billion euros, from 3.64 billion euros the previous year. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) decreased by 40 percent to 4 billion 550 million euros, from 7 billion and 600 million euros in the previous year.
Inditex sales revenue decreased by 28 percent, from 28 billion 286 million euros to 20 billion and 402 million euros. Meanwhile, online sales jumped 77 percent to 6.6 billion euros, and the company expects further growth in this sector in the fiscal year that began in February.
The company attributed the poor results of last year to the restrictive measures imposed due to the coronavirus epidemic, as at the end of January, about 30 percent of all its stores were still closed and 52 percent were working with limited working hours. However, on March 8th, only roughly 15 percent of all of its stores were closed, and Inditex expects nearly all of its stores to open by April 12th.
Inditex management proposed a dividend of € 0.70 based on last year’s result, which the shareholders will decide in July.
