Following today’s release of Inditex’s figures for the year ending 31 January 2025; Alice Price, apparel analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Inditex continued to assert its superiority in the global apparel market in FY2024/25, with group net sales increasing a robust 7.5% to reach just over €38.6bn, and rising 10.5% in constant currency, with growth remaining relatively consistent across all four quarters. Inditex owes its continued outperformance to its fast execution of the latest trends, coupled with its diverse range of styles and aesthetics, enabling it to appeal to a broad demographic of shoppers. Its operating profit also remained strong, rising 11.0% to almost €7.6bn, reflecting lower operational costs and enhanced efficiencies. In the current quarter, constant currency sales increased 4% between 1 February and 10 March, and while this represents a softening in demand, the last week saw an improvement with growth of 7%, as the early signs of spring made consumers more receptive to shopping spring/summer ranges.
“Inditex’s largest brand Zara reported growth of 6.6% to reach almost €27.8bn in FY2024/25, continuing to exceed the global apparel market, which is projected to have grown just 0.2% in 2024, as it remains top of mind among consumers seeking the latest fashion. Stradivarius was the top performer in terms of revenue growth, rising 14.1%, closely followed by Bershka and Oysho, which both rose 11.8%. This strong demand can be attributed to these brands being less established, with market expansion and store openings also driving awareness of Stradivarius and Bershka, coupled with their strong appeal among Gen Z, thanks to their ultra trend-led offerings and lower prices. Pull&Bear achieved sales growth of 6.6%, while Massimo Dutti delivered the weakest result, rising 4.6%, due to its more formal ranges.
“Europe excluding Spain was Inditex’s best-performing region in FY2024/25, with its sales mix rising 1.9% to 50.6%, followed by Spain, which grew its mix by 0.2ppts to 15.1%. This highlights Inditex’s strong desirability and consumer awareness across Europe, despite the challenging economic climate across the region. Conversely, the Americas, and Asia and the rest of the world, experienced their sales mixes contract 1.0ppts and 1.2ppts, respectively. North America continues to experience subdued consumer demand amid ongoing economic fragilities, while Asia’s biggest economy of China continues to experience stalling economic growth amid the property crisis, with consumers also continuing to favor domestic brands.
“Store openings and optimisation remained a key pillar for growth in FY2024/25, with the fashion giant having undergone 257 store openings and 254 refurbishments across the period. In FY2025/26, Inditex will continue to strengthen its store portfolio, but aims to drive growth through market expansion, as it lays out plans to open its first ever stores in Iraq, while it will also open its first Bershka stores in Sweden, Stradivarius will make its physical debut in Austria, and Oysho will open for the first time in The Netherlands and Germany. The online channel continues to outperform for the group, growing 12.0% in FY2024/25, thanks to technological platform improvements.”
