Zara owner sees sales rise as company remains in fashion with shoppers

The Spanish retailer notched up sales of £8.9bn during the period, resulting in an 8 per cent rise in net profits to £1bn.

Chairman and chief executive Pablo Isla hailed the firm’s integrated business model: “Both our online and bricks-and-mortar stores are seamlessly connected, driven by platforms such as mobile payment, and other technological initiatives that we will continue to develop.”

Inditex, the world’s biggest clothing retailer and also the owner of Massimo Dutti and Bershka, opened 83 new stores during the period, taking its total to 7,096.

The retailer also flagged the launch of Zara in Vietnam in the third quarter, meaning it now has a presence in 92 countries.

Inditex added that, over the past 12 months, it has created almost 10,000 new jobs, of which 2,421 were in Spain.