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Inditex says current season sales ahead of 2019 levels

Inditex said its sales between the start of November and December 10 increased 33% compared to the same time in 2020 and were 10% up from 2019
Inditex said its sales between the start of November and December 10 increased 33% compared to the same time in 2020 and were 10% up from 2019

Inditex, the world's biggest fashion retailer, said its sales in recent weeks were up by a third on the same time last year and ahead of levels seen in 2019 before the pandemic.

Rival H&M also reported higher sales over the past three months as fashion retailers started to benefit from recovery from the lockdowns at the previous height of the pandemic.

Inditex, the owner of the Zara and Massimo Dutti brands, said autumn and winter collections had been well received by customers.

The Spanish company said its online and store sales in constant currency between the start of November and December 10 increased 33% compared to the same time in 2020 and were 10% up from 2019.

Inditex has shuffled its senior management with Marta Ortega, a daughter of the company's founder, due to take over as chair next April.

Over the first nine months of its financial year, Inditex cemented its recovery to close to pre-pandemic levels , posting a net profit of €2.5 billion, 273% more than in the same period a year ago, as shoppers massively returned to their former habits.

The net profit over the first nine months from February 1 was still below the €2.7 billion reported the same time in 2019.

Sales from February to October reached €19.33 billion, 37% more than the €14.1 billion the same time last year, but still below the €19.8 billion reported in 2019.

During its third quarter, sales growth in constant currency was 21% compared to the same time in 2020 and 10% up from 2019, the company said.

"The recovery continues to gain momentum," Marcos Lopez, the company's Capital Markets director said in a statement.

The company benefits from being able to produce more than half its products near its base in Spain and deliver them to consumers faster than peers, sparing it the worst of a global supply-chain crisis.