Shares in Zara owner Inditex fell Wednesday after the world鈥檚 biggest fashion retailer posted disappointing first quarter sales as concerns mount over US president Donald Trump鈥檚 trade war.
The Spanish group 鈥� whose other brands include Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull&Bear 鈥� posted a profit after tax of 1.3 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for the three-month period ending April 30, up 0.8 per cent from a year ago.
It was a new record for the first quarter and in line with the average forecast by analysts surveyed by the FactSet financial data firm. But the pace was slower than that which Inditex has been used to in recent years since the end of the Covid crisis.
Sales grew 1.5 per cent to 8.27 billion euros over the same period, which is typically a slower time of the year for the sector. The figure was lower than the 8.37 billion euros forecast by FactSet.
鈥楽ales are slowing more than expected,鈥� analysts at Bankinter said in a note, describing the results as 鈥榮oft鈥�.