Spain’s Inditex, the owner of fashion brand Zara, posted a 61% increase in sales and posted a profit of Rs149 crore during FY22, reversing the performance from a year ago when its sales shrunk 28% and slipped into its first ever loss in India due to Covid-related lockdowns and strict restrictions.
Inditex Trent, its joint venture with Tata that runs 21 of Zara stores in India, saw revenue expand to Rs1815 crore last fiscal, according to Trent’s annual report. A year ago, it had a net loss of Rs 41 crore on net sales of Rs1126 crore.
"The incremental store openings for Zara continue to be calibrated with focus on presence only in very high-quality retail spaces," said the annual report.
Trent also has a separate association with the Inditex group to operate Massimo Dutti stores in India. The entity saw revenues rise to Rs59 crore during FY22 compared to Rs 34 crore in FY21.
Zara has also been facing increasing competition from global rivals in the clothing market that is increasingly cluttered. The Spanish brand has just opened two stores over the past five years.
With revenues of Rs 2,044 crore during FY21 ended December, German sportswear maker Puma is the largest lifestyle brand in the country paced by increasing awareness about fitness and surging demand for ‘athleisure’ wear in the country.
Zara has been a runaway success since its arrival in the country a decade ago. On a consolidated level, Trent also runs Trent Hypermarket, an equal joint venture between Tata and British retailer Tesco, to run 61 Star hyper and supermarkets. The retailer that competes with Reliance Fresh and D'Mart, posted total sales of Rs 1,338 crore, an increase of 11%, although losses widened to Rs 135 crore.
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