Zara parent takes €4.6m dividend

SPANISH FASHION giant Inditex took dividends totalling €4.6 million from its Irish operation last year although profits dropped in its best-known chain, Zara.

The firm, which has 22 Irish stores trading under five brand names, saw the combined sales rise almost 19 per cent to €73.77 million in the year to January. However, three of the brands incurred losses.

In addition to Zara, Inditex's other Irish brands are: Pull Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Massimo Dutti. Each occupies specific points on the pricing scale, in line with a strategy that aims to maximise market penetration.

Only Zara and Massimo Dutti were profitable in Ireland last year, according to new Companies Office filings for the Inditex subsidiaries that operate their stores.

Za Clothing Ireland, operator of nine Zara stores, increased sales to €46.02 million from €40.36 million. With retailers already coming under pressure last year as consumer spending slowed, operating profit fell to €1.88 million from €2.06 million.

However, Inditex took a €3.1 million dividend from Za Clothing in June last year. On the same day, it received a €1.5 million dividend from Massimo Dutti Ireland. Filings for this unit - which operates a single Massimo Dutti outlet, at Dundrum shopping centre in Dublin - show that its sales rose to €5.77 million from €4.86 million. Operating profit rose marginally to €1.45 million from €1.32 million.

There was no comment from Inditex on the trading conditions its chains face in the market, which is griped by a downturn. Accounts for Bershka Ireland, which operates five stores, show that its sales were virtually unchanged last year at €10.45 million, rising by only €156,000. The chain incurred a €696,152 loss, reversing an operating profit of €76,077 in the previous year.

Pull Bear Ireland, which also has five stores, saw sales rise to €8.77 million from €5.23 million. The chain was marginally profitable at the operating level but incurred a pretax loss.

Stradavarius Ireland, which operates two stores, saw its sales more than double to €2.77 million from €1.3 million. Operating losses declined to €27,705 from €241,821 in the previous year.