spring sales

– Inditex’s shares rose to a record high after reporting positive early spring sales.
– Sales at constant currencies for Feb. 1 to March 11 jumped 11 percent.
– Annual sales rose 10 percent to a record 36 billion euros in the year to January 2024.
– Inditex’s revenue growth in 2023 topped that of rival H&M.
– The company plans to open Zara stores in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the first Massimo Dutti store in Miami.
– Inditex has widened its lead over H&M by delivering trends faster and selling more clothes at higher prices.
– H&M reported a 4 percent drop in December and January sales.
– Inditex’s sales growth has slowed compared to the previous year, with a 13.5 percent increase in the first half of spring 2023.
– The company posted an annual net profit of 5.4 billion euros, up 30 percent on the year.
– Inditex plans to invest 900 million euros per year through 2025 on logistics.
– It will spend a total of 1.8 billion euros this year on expanding store space by 5 percent, technology, and improving online platforms in 2024.
– Inditex will start weekly livestreaming shopping services for Zara in the U.S. and UK.
– The company will expand its second-hand business to the U.S. after launching in the UK in 2022.
– Inditex had 5,692 stores worldwide in 2023, 123 fewer than the previous year.
– Inventories in January were 7 percent lower year-on-year.
– The company will increase its dividend payout by 28 percent to 1.54 euros per share.
– Zara began raising prices earlier than H&M in response to inflation and to offer high-fashion pieces.
– Over the last two years, Zara has increased average prices at a slower pace than H&M and others.
– Investors expect Inditex to continue to outperform H&M, with the Spanish group having a higher valuation than peers like H&M, Gap, and Next.