Same store sales and group profit both increased by five per cent at Spanish apparel giant Inditex in 2014.
In financial statements just released, Inditex said its key same store sales growth indicator stands at 23 per cent over the past five years. Net profit totalled €2.5 billion. Group sales revenue rose by eight per cent in the year to January 31, to €18.12 billion.
Inditex owns Zara, Zara Home, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Oysho, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti and Uterque.
The group has announced a profit sharing plan under which employees will participate in earnings growth in the next two years, benefitting workers in stores, manufacturing, logistics, concepts and subsidiaries all over the world, so long as they have been working for Inditex for at least two years. That adds up to about 70,000 beneficiaries in 54 markets.
In 2014 the group generated 8741 new jobs worldwide, 1800 of them in Spain. Inditex’s headcount totalled 137,054 at January 31.
In 2014 Inditex opened 343 stores in 54 markets, taking its network total to 6683 in 88 markets. It debuted in just one new market last year – Albania.
In total it opened new establishments in 54 markets worldwide. Some of the most noteworthy openings included flagship Zara stores in Zurich (Bahnhofstrasse), Miami (Lincoln Rd), Madrid (Serrano), Krakow (Rynek Glowny), Hong Kong (Queens Rd) and Shanghai (East Nanjing Rd) to take its total number of stores in China to over 500 across 60 cities.
The group’s other chains also opened high-profile stores such as the Pull&Bear stores in Milan (Vittorio Emanuelle II) and Amsterdam (Kalverstraat); the Massimo Dutti stores in Vienna (Kholmarkt) and Palma de Mallorca (Born); the Bershka store in Turin (Via Roma); the Uterqüe store in Madrid’s airport; the Stradivarius store in Osaka (Shinsaibashi); the new image Uterqüe store in Barcelona’s airport; the Oysho store in Barcelona (Pelai); and the Zara Home flagship in London (Kensington High St). In 2015, Zara Home has opened its first stores in Australia, making it the second chain in the group to boast a presence in the market, after Zara.
New stores planned for 2015 include prominent openings on Oxford St 61 (London), in Plaza Cataluña (Barcelona) and a number of openings in various US cities, including three in New York: one on Fifth Avenue and 42nd street, inaugurated last week, another in the new World Trade Centre, in the heart of the New York’s financial district, and a third in SoHo, in a building recently acquired by the group.
