Spanish fashion retailer Inditex on Wednesday said net profit fell 2.4 percent to EUR928 million (USD1.2 billion) between 1 Feb. and 31 July, from EUR951 million a year earlier. New sales rose 5.6 percent to EUR8.09 billion. Like-for-like sales grew 4.5 percent in the first half of 2014. Asia-Pacific is the second biggest market for the fashion giant, which takes 21.7 percent in total sales.
The owner of fashion brand Zara opened 120 stores during the first half in 40 different markets, bringing its worldwide network to 6,460 stores in 88 markets.
At the end of the first half, the group was operating online stores in 25 markets and Mexico was added on 3 September. In addition to 21 European markets, the group sells online in China, Japan, the US, Canada and, Mexico.
"In the weeks to come, Zara’s online platform is due to go live in South Korea, and it will expand its online offering in China with the opening of its virtual shopfront on Tmall," the group said in a statement.