Zara Owner Inditex Reports Slower Quarterly Sales Growth By Reuters

MADRID (Reuters) – Zara owner Inditex (BME:) said Wednesday that its fiscal first quarter revenue rose 7%, meeting analysts’ expectations.

This performance represented a slowdown from a year ago, when the country enjoyed the benefits of post-pandemic shopping.

Inditex, which also owns Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and other brands, is trying to fend off fierce competition from rivals such as H&M (ST:) by tracking and communicating fashion trends faster.

The company outperformed its peers in recent quarters thanks to investments in new in-store and online experiences. It also faces stiff competition from fast-growing Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu.

The world’s largest listed fashion retailer reported sales of 8.15 billion euros ($8.87 billion) in the three months to April. This compares with the average analyst forecast of 8.1 billion euros, according to an LSEG poll.

Net profit rose 11% to 1.29 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the three months to April, according to an LSEG poll, in line with analysts’ average forecast of 1.3 billion euros. In the first quarter of last year, the company reported a 54% increase in profits.

Sales rose 12% in constant currency from May 1 to June 3, according to Inditex.

(1 dollar = 0.9192 euros)