Inditex sees profit grow in first half of 2025 as commercial activities pick up

Madrid – This morning, July 15, Inditex’s 2025 annual general meeting took place at the company’s headquarters in Arteixo, Galicia. The meeting, chaired by Marta Ortega Pérez, non-executive chair of the Spanish fashion multinational, saw the approval of the company's 2024 annual accounts. It also highlighted various ongoing initiatives and projects aimed at unlocking and leveraging the company's full growth potential.

Ortega Pérez opened the meeting, surrounded by senior management and key members of Inditex’s board of directors. She emphasised the ongoing celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first Zara store in A Coruña. This milestone is significant not only for the company but also for the fashion world and the Spanish and global industrial and commercial ecosystem. This is due to the revolution and disruption it brought to the sector and the retail landscape. Ortega Pérez acknowledged the contributions of Inditex's teams over the years. She expressed gratitude for the work of José Arnau Sierra, who recently stepped down from his role as a board member and non-executive vice chair after serving since June 2012. He has been succeeded by Roberto Cibeira, CEO of Pontegadea, who was confirmed as a new board member at today's meeting. “His contribution to this company, his deep knowledge and dedication over so many years is something we will always cherish,” Ortega Pérez said, referring to Arnau Sierra's work.

Ortega Pérez began the meeting by looking back at Inditex's origins and the journey it has taken since its founding. Speaking on the group's initial vision, she emphasised that “it wasn't just about selling clothes; it was about understanding people”, and “that hasn't changed”. In 2025, that same philosophy continues to look to the future. Today’s Inditex “wants to grow, yes, but not only in size”, but also “in contributing values, in responsibility, in relevance”. She summarised: “We want that growth to lead us to be better and better."

Ortega Pérez continued: “Those who started this journey 50 years ago, with Mr. Ortega at the helm, could not have imagined that they were making history. However, what they were clear about was that things had to be done well, with commitment, with dedication, with care." This remains the guiding principle for “a company focused on product, quality and listening to our surroundings”. She stated: “There are no excuses, no shortcuts, just doing things right.” Addressing the shareholders, she promised, “the future is in our hands”. This inspiring statement has a clear double meaning. On one hand, it highlights the company's continued commitment to value creation, despite doubts raised by some. On the other, it demonstrates Inditex’s commitment to shaping a responsible future through its growth and business model, which is in everyone's “hands”.

A sea of initiatives and projects to continue on the path of positive growth

Following Ortega Pérez’s address, Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Inditex, addressed the shareholders. He presented the key indicators of Inditex's 2024 results, the accounts of which were to be approved during the meeting. He also highlighted the company's strong business performance at the start of 2025, despite a slowdown in growth.

Maceiras highlighted the online channel's particularly strong performance in 2024. This demonstrates the success of Inditex's omnichannel strategies implemented in recent years. These investments led to 2024 being the first year Inditex exceeded 10 billion euros in annual online sales.

Beyond the 2024 results, Maceiras shifted focus to the current 2025 fiscal year. He explained how, despite challenging environments, the company started the year with positive sales and profit growth. He affirmed the company's aim to continue on this growth trajectory. He reminded shareholders of the various commercial initiatives and projects recently launched and planned for the near future as part of its long-term strategies. These include the launch of Zara's new “travel mode” in Spain and France starting this July; the commissioning of Inditex's new Zaragoza II logistics distribution centre, currently in “test mode” and set to begin operations with products for stores, with an initial workforce of 250, in mid-August; and the opening, in the coming months, of a new building for Zara's commercial teams at its Arteixo headquarters. This over 160,000 square metre facility will support Zara's, and the wider Inditex Group’s, next stage of growth by facilitating collaboration, creativity and integration across teams.

“For 2025, despite the complex and uncertain environment, we maintain our ambition to continue on the path of positive growth we are on”, a path reflected in “our first-quarter sales”, Maceiras told Inditex shareholders. To this end, “we are continuing this year to execute a number of projects and initiatives that will focus on further deepening innovation, constantly adapting to our customers' needs and diversifying our business model”. A significant portion of the “1.8 billion euros we estimate for our ordinary investment throughout the year” will be allocated to these levers. This will be complemented by the 900 million euros annual investment from the “2024-2025 biennial logistics plan”, which has driven the launch of the new Zaragoza logistics centre, “one of the plan's most important projects”, Maceiras acknowledged.

Investment in AI-powered robotics start-up Theker Robotics

Along with the announcements about upcoming projects and initiatives, Maceiras also announced Inditex's investment in the Spanish start-up Theker Robotics. This emerging company specialises in developing intelligent robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It aims to disrupt the current dynamics of sectors such as waste management, logistics, food and beverage, manufacturing, and retail. This makes Theker Robotics the third start-up Inditex has invested in in just over a year, and the first in 2025, following investments in Galy and Epoch Biodesign in 2024.

In 2024, “we invested in the start-ups Galy and Epoch, which are developing innovative programmes for growing cotton in the laboratory from stem cells and designing enzymes with artificial intelligence to promote recycling processes, respectively”, Maceiras explained. These investments align with Inditex's view that “innovation is absolutely essential in the field of sustainability”. This supports “our goal of making 100 percent of our raw materials more sustainable by 2030”. In 2024, “we reached 73 percent, with a very significant thirty-nine percent of fibres coming from recycling”.

Complementing these investments, and demonstrating Inditex's commitment to innovation beyond sustainability, Maceiras announced to the shareholders and board members: “Today we are announcing that we have invested in Theker." He detailed that this is “a Spanish start-up that is developing an innovative programme for process automation using robots powered by artificial intelligence”. Expanding on the implications of this announcement, he added, “We expect that this cutting-edge technology will allow us to further improve productivity in the future, while continuing to ensure the quality of work for all our professionals”.