Inditex has opened its first store in the world with an integrated online section in Stratford (London). Apart from the traditional clothing lines for men, women and children, the store also has an online section with computerised collection points for goods.
Ana Fuentes/Carlos Díaz Güell | “We were a very poor country which in the last 40 years has made a spectacular transformation. Today there are over 150,000 companies which export regularly and have exported at least in the last three years”, explains Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, High Commissioner for the Spain Brand (Marca España), and privileged observer of the economic reality in Spain and how its business class has evolved over the last few decades.
Inditex founder, Amancio Ortega, is still the person with the largest fortune in Spain, with 70 billion euros, followed by his daughter Sandra Ortega and and Mercadona chairman, Juan Roig. The three business people top the list of the 100 biggest national fortunes drawn up by Forbes.
Spanish retailer Inditex is the largest in Europe, more than twice the size of the number 2. Kering. With over 7,000 stores and 150,000 employees globally, it continues to outpace its rivals mainly due to its flexible business model.
Nobody has been able to explain, in any credible and understandable way, the reasons for Inditex’s sharp stock market decline, precisely in a year when it’s beating records in terms of sales and profits.
Ailing department store chain El Corte Ingles lived splendidly before Amancio Ortega, Zara’s founder, began his rapid journey through the world of fashion retailing both at home and abroad. Galicia’s Inditex group has not stopped growing in sales and store openings.
The Green party lawmakers in the European parliament have accused the world’s biggest clothing retailer Inditex of avoiding paying at least 585 million euros in taxes between 2011 and 2014. According its report ‘Tax Shopping: Exploring Zara’s Tax Avoidance Business’, the fact that Inditex diverted bonus payments to the Netherlands has cost Spain some 218 million euros in uncollected tax revenues, Germany 25 million, Italy 57 million and France 78 million, amongst others.
The Gallegan fashion retailer never fails to amaze us with its growth capacity, which is also healthy. As of now, it is not just the leading Spanish company in stock market terms but also one of the three or four in the Eurostoxx 50 worth over 100 billion euros.
First half results from Inditex have once again been record-beating. The company owned by Amancio Ortega, the world’s richest man in 2016 according to Forbes, posted an 8% rise in net profit to 1.256 billion euros in the first half of its 2016-2017 fiscal year (this runs from February 1 to July 31) from a year earlier.
This week Inditex approved the appointment of Baroness Denise Kingsmill to its board of directors, as well as a long-term incentive plan, in cash and shares, for up to 600 company executives, including chairman Pablo Isla. The company also said it will not alter any plans it has for the UK despite Brexit.