Zara owner reaps benefits of expansion as profit jumps 20%

Spanish global clothing giant Inditex, owner of the Zara brand, posted Thursday a 20-percent surge in nine-month net profits as its investments and expansion began to pay off.

The group said in a statement that net profit rose to 2.0 billion euros ($2.2 billion) between February and October in its non-standard fiscal year.

Expansion efforts had weighed down last year’s results, but profits rose this year by a greater margin than the healthy 16.6-percent rise in sales to 14.7 billion euros.

Inditex, which competes with Sweden’s H&M as the world’s top ready-to-wear clothing retailer, continued its expansion by opening 230 stores and 13,079 jobs in the first nine months of its 2015 fiscal year.

The company also stepped up its online presence, with Internet shopping sites now available in 28 countries.

Inditex has also benefited with the slow recovery of its home country Spain, adding nearly 3,300 jobs there this year.