Sales lift Q1 profits for Spain's Zara store owner
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Spanish clothes retailer Inditex, which owns the Zara store chain, says net profit for its first fiscal quarter of 2016 rose 6 percent thanks to greater sales globally.
Inditex said profit for February through April was 554 million euros ($621 million), up from 521 million euros for the same period last year.
The company's shares were up 2.7 percent at 28.74 euros in Wednesday morning trading in Madrid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The company said sales reached 4.88 billion euros, a 12 percent increase on the same period in 2015.
Inditex says it opened 72 new stores in the period for a total of 7,085 and added some 11,900 jobs in the process.
Founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega, Inditex operates eight store brands including Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Oysho.