Sales rise for ZARA owner Inditex but pace of growth slows ahead of summer

The owner of ZARA has reported rising sales in recent weeks but a slowdown in the pace of growth as the fashion giant staves off the impact of economic uncertainty on global consumer confidence.

Inditex, which is Europe’s largest fashion retailer, said store and online sales between 1 May and 9 June rose 6% compared with the same period last year.

Spring and summer collections were being received well by shoppers, it said.

It nonetheless reflected slower sales growth than the same time last year – when sales leapt 12% higher ahead of the peak summer months.

Sales over its latest quarter, between February and April, rose to €8.3 billion (£7 billion).

This was 4.2% higher than the same period a year ago, at constant currency rates, but slightly fell short of analysts’ expectations for the quarter.

Spain-based Inditex, which also owns the Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius brands, said the "optimisation" of its stores was ongoing in a bid to improve productivity.

At the end of the latest quarter, it operated 5,562 shops around the world – more than 100 fewer than the 5,698 it had last year.

Concerns that consumer confidence in global markets, particularly the US, has been impacted by economic and trade uncertainty have risen in recent months.

US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans led some economists to cut the outlook for global growth.

Meanwhile, power outages in Spain and Portugal – key markets for Inditex – caused major disruption, bringing much of the countries’ systems to a standstill for a short period.