• Over the past 12 months, the Group has generated more than 13,000 new jobs worldwide, more than 3,000 of which were in Spain. It now has a total 146,478 employees
• Over this period the company has been particularly active in Community investment by providing direct aid to refugees in Europe and support to organisations such as Médicines Sans Frontières, Every Mother Counts and, more recently, Water.org
• As of 31 October the Group has 6,913 stores in 88 markets, 28 of which also have online sales platforms
• Net profit over the first nine months of the year was up 20% to €2.020bn
• Store and online sales in local currencies grew 15% between 1 November and 3 December 2015

Arteixo, Spain, 2015-12-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Over the first nine months of FY2015 – 1 February to 31 October – Inditex Group’s net sales increased 16% from a year earlier to €14.74bn. In constant currency terms, sales growth was 15%, with solid growth in like-for-like store sales. Net profit was €2.02bn, up 20% over the same period the previous year.

This growth, coupled with the group’s investments, has enabled Inditex to generate 13,079 new jobs worldwide over the past 12 months, of which 3,291 were in Spain. As at 31 October 2015, the Group’s global workforce totalled 146,478 employees. Of note, all manufacturing, logistics, brand and subsidiary employees worldwide with more than two years’ service will benefit from a profit-share plan for 2015-2016. The Group will award these beneficiaries 10% of the year-on-year growth in profit attributable to the parent company.

Community Investments

The period has likewise been marked by a number of community investments, in line with the Group’s aim to support humanitarian aid, education and employment and social welfare.

With regards to humanitarian support, the Group has partnered with the Spanish Red Cross, UNHCR, Cáritas and Médicines Sans Frontiéres, to provide support to refugees fleeing the Syria conflict. From September to date, it has sent 450,000 items of warm clothing to refugees in regions bordering Syria via these organisations. In April, Inditex also provided emergency aid to Nepal via Caritas, the Red Cross and Oxfam, following the devastating earthquake.

In terms of education and employment, in Spain Inditex has opened its ninth store of the For&From project in Galicia – to support people with disabilities. It has continued to support Caritas to help unemployment in Spain by providing skills training.

Meanwhile, internationally it has launched the Salta programme in seven cities worldwide, to provide training and employment to young people at risk of social exclusion. This builds on from the initiative already present in Paris, Barcelona and Madrid. In October, Chairman Pablo Isla also signed an agreement with the China Youth Development Foundation to support the construction of educational centres in Chinese rural areas. Inditex has also signed a partnership agreement with Entreculturas Foundation to promote education between young refugees in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

In terms of social welfare investments, Inditex has also signed medium to long term partnership agreements with Every Mother Counts to provide essential healthcare to mothers in need in the US and worldwide. As well as Water.org to provide access to safe water and sanitation in developing areas, mainly in Bangladesh and Cambodia, which will directly improve the health conditions of more than 160,000 people in both countries.

International presence

The Group continues with the global expansion of its fully integrated store and online sales platform. Over the first nine months of 2015 it opened 230 stores in 48 markets.

In terms of online launches over the period, Zara extended its online presence to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Inditex also launched online operations in the southern hemisphere with the launch of Zarahome.com in Australia on 3 December. Zara Home also launched online in Japan. Over the period, Uterqüe also launched online in Sweden and Denmark; Zara Home in Japan, and Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius and Oysho in China.

Inditex opened physical stores in all geographical areas, which included highly relevant stores for all the brands. Europe saw a net increase of 109 stores over the period, the Americas 47, and Asia and the rest of the world 74 to bring the Group’s total number of stores to 6,913.

All of the Group’s brands increased the number of stores over the period. The most relevant openings to date include those of Zara in New York’s Financial District (222 Broadway), the first store in Hawaii, and a range of openings in Amsterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Osaka (Japan), Beijing, Harbin and Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Brisbane (Australia) and Johannesburg (South Africa) along with several store enlargements and refurbishments such as Westfield London (United Kingdom) and Paseo del Born in Palma de Mallorca.

Of particular note among the brands include the opening of Massimo Dutti in Costa Mesa (California); Pull&Bear with its new flagship store in Madrid; Bershka, with its first store in Taiwan and its flagship store in Korea; and Stradivarius, with openings in all geographic areas from China, where it has opened stores in cities such as Chengdu and Harbin, to México, were it has opened in cities such as Coacalco, Culiacán and the Federal District. Oysho has opened stores for the first time in Korea and Sweden; Zara Home also opened its flagship in Sydney marking its 500th store worldwide, and Uterqüe also opened new stores in Mexico and in Russia.
As of 31 October the Group was present in 88 markets, with online operations in 28 of these.

The brands have also been particularly active in creative and commercial initiatives, the most notable of which is Massimo Dutti’s launch of Personal Tailoring, which incorporates new fabrics and cuts for the tailoring service offered by different international stores.

Elsewhere, Pull&Bear ran a creative campaign which combined music and fashion under the ‘Be More Barrio’ umbrella, which included exclusive music created by the Australian band Sheppard. Stradivarius continues to work on its upcoming men’s clothing line due to be launched in 2017 and continues with its The Event Paper campaign, most recently in Shanghai. Bershka has launched a campaign with photographs shot by Italy’s Luca Campri; Oysho continues developing its fitness line, accompanied by health events such as the women’s race and the yoga masterclass, which has taken place in Shanghai, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid. Zara Home has introduced the Flora, Nordic and Luxor campaigns; while Uterqüe successfully presented The Cocktail Collection and Forever Chic initiatives.

Introduction of the RFID systems

RFID technology is currently in place in 1,417 stores across 64 countries, having been fully rolled out in 47 countries. By the end of FY2015, 53 countries will have the technology fully in place.

Fourth quarter FY15 trading update

Store and online sales in local currencies grew 15%over the period between 1 November and 3 of December 2015

SOURCE: Inditex