Spain's Inditex, the owner of Zara fashion stores, has today reported a better than expected rise in quarterly profit, helped by a recovering European economy and the weak euro.
Inditex makes more of its garments in the euro zone than competitors like Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz, which largely sources from Asia in US dollar-denominated contracts.
This means it has benefited of late as the euro has tumbled against the greenback.
Inditex's model of sourcing closer to its major markets in Europe allowed it to respond quickly to warmer than usual weather in Spain and cooler conditions in other European countries.
Net profit rose 28% to €521m in the period from the three months from February to April on sales up 13% to €4.37 billion, outpacing forecasts in a Reuters poll.
"Results reflect a very strong operating performance with positive like-for-like sales growth in all geographies," said Marcos Lopez, Inditex’s capital markets director.
The world's largest clothing retailer, which runs brands such as teen chain Bershka and up-market chain Massimo Dutti, said sales had picked up further in May and June, rising 13.5% from Febuary to June 7 in local currencies.
H&M reported a 10% rise in sales in April and is expected to post an 8% increase for May when it reports second quarter sales on June 15.
Inditex said today that Zara would launch online shopping services in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in 2015, in line with its targets for this year.
Inditex owns 6,746 stores in 88 countries, including Ireland.
