Over the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017, Inditex’ turnover grew 10 % to 17.96 billion euro. The Spanish fashion company published the results as its boss, Amancio Ortega, stepped down.
200 new stores
In the same timeframe, Its EBITDA also grew 6 % to 3.819 billion euro and that led to a 2.341 billion euro net result, which is also 6 % better than last year. It opened more than 200 new stores across 52 markets in those nine months. It now has 7,504 stores in 94 countries, having added Belarus as a new market in August. Every single Inditex brand grew, aside from Zara Kids. That brand’s store network shrank seven stores.
The company’s growth pace did slow down in the third quarter (+ 6.1 %) compared to the first two quarters when turnover grew 11.5 %. According to Zara’s parent company, the fourth quarter started out well, with a 13 % turnover spike between 1 November and 11 December. The full-year results will be published on 14 March 2018.
Boss steps down
More important than the first nine months’ results is undoubtedly the announcement that Amancio Ortega, the man who ran Inditex, has decided to resign as a director in every one of the group’s companies.
He has not been in any operational position since 2011, but he has now also stepped down from any board position, from every single one of the group’s 53 subsidiaries. He is still the company’s major shareholder, with 59 % of shares. He is valued at sixty billion euro, making him one of the world’s richest people.
