RE: Guardian12 Mar 2025 12:11
London, retailers struggled on the back of Zara owner Inditex reporting a slowdown in sales growth.
Inditex, down 8.1% in Madrid, reported sales and profit growth in the year to January 31.
So far in the new financial year, store and online sales have risen 4% at constant currency, when adjusted for the calendar effect of 2024 being a leap year. In the last week alone, sales are up 7%. Nonetheless, it still represents a slowdown from the 11% constant currency growth achieved in the year just ended.
Primark owner AB Foods was down 3.8% and Next lost 1.2%.
JD Sports fell 1.9% and Frasers Group gave back 1.0%, as sportswear retailers struggled on the back of a downbeat update from Frankfurt-listed Puma. Puma plunged 22%, though perennial rival Adidas was 0.6% higher.
Puma predicted "ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic challenges in 2025, especially trade disputes and currency volatility".
As a result, the sporting goods maker expects currency adjusted sales to grow in the low- to mid-single-digit percentage range, following a 4.4% rise in 2024. It predicts adjusted earnings before interest and tax in the range of EUR520 million and EUR600 million, excluding one-time costs.