Inditex Profit Surged on Asian Expansion

Inditex SA (ITX.MC), the owner of fast-fashion pioneer Zara, Wednesday reported a rise in 2011 net profit as sales were boosted by expansion in Asia and other emerging markets, as it continued to open stores at a rate of more than one a day.

The world’s largest fashion retailer by sales said net profit reached EUR1.93 billion in the fiscal year through Jan. 31, up 12% from EUR1.73 billion a year earlier. Sales rose 10% to EUR13.79 billion, and comparable sales were up 4%, Inditex said in a release.

According to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 12 analyst estimates, they were expecting a profit of EUR1.92 billion, on revenue of EUR13.78 billion.

And the trend continues: Sales in the first six weeks of the fiscal year were up 11% compared with a year earlier in local currencies, said the company, which is based in Arteixo, northern Spain.

Inditex–which operates in 82 countries on five continents and whose brands include Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull & Bear–said it opened 483 stores last year, taking the total to 5,527. The company is planning for capital expenditure of about EUR950 million this year and to open between 480 and 520 new stores.

The first Zara shop opened in 1975 in A Coruña, Spain, a city in which the Group first began doing business and which is still home to its headquarters.

It is paying a dividend of EUR1.80 a share for 2011, up from EUR1.60 a year earlier.