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LA CORUNA,
Inditex reported net profit of
The retailer, which owns a stable of brands from upmarketlabel Massimo Dutti to home wares chain Zara Home, said onlinesales grew 41 percent over the year to reach 10 percent of netsales across the group in 2017.
It is the first time Inditex has broken out online sales.Unlike many fashion retailers struggling with competition fromonline vendors like Amazon, Inditex is holding up wellas brands like Zara merge their high street presence with aslick online offering.
Large stores in prime shopping areas act as a showcase forclothing which can be bought there and then or ordered lateronline via the app or website. Online purchases can be picked upor returned in store.
The company said sales at constant exchange rates grew 9percent in the first five weeks of the new financial year asshoppers snapped up items from the spring/summer collectionslike printed maxi dresses, linen separates and pastel blazersfrom Zara.
Inditex is vulnerable to foreign exchange rates as itreports in euros yet makes around half its sales in othercurrencies.
Shares in the company fell to a three-year low last monthafter analysts cut their price targets on the stock due to theeffects of a strong euro, which has strengthened against mostglobal currencies since the beginning of the year.
Inditex trades at around 22 times estimated 2018 earningscompared to around 15 times earnings for Swedish rival H&Mand around 20 times earnings for Associated BritishFoods, owner of budget fashion brand Primark.
It proposed a dividend of
