Spain's Inditex reports €928m profit in first semester

Textile group Inditex, the world's leading clothing retailer, reported 928 million euros (1.202 billion U.S. dollars) of net profits from Feb. 1 to July 31, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Thursday.
The figure meant a 2.4 percent decrease in comparison with the same period in 2013, while profits before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell by 0.4 percent to 1.6 billion euros.
According to the chairman of Inditex, Pablo Isla, sales in Europe accounted for 45.6 percent of the total compared to 44.6 percent of a year earlier. Sales in Asia and Spain accounted for 21.7 percent and 19.3 percent respectively showing no variation when compared with a year earlier.
Meanwhile, sales in America represented 13.4 percent of the total compared to 14.4 percent of a year earlier.
Sales have increased by 6 percent in Spain, Isla said, while highlighting that the company had created 1,200 new jobs in the country over the last 12 months of a total of 8,000 new job opportunities created worldwide.
Inditex had 6,460 stores in 88 different markets by the end of July after opening 120 new stores in 40 markets. It also had online stores in 25 different markets with South Korea opening a new one in the following weeks.
Inditex, whose most famous brand is Zara, also owns brands like Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear or Uterque. (1 euro = 1.29 U.S. dollars)