Inditex has just confirmed what many feared: it is no longer the unstoppable growth machine we knew and faces a more mature stage, without the double digit that until very recently was the custom.
Why is it important. The first quarter marks a turning point in the history of the Galician giant. Sales grow only 1.5% compared to 7.1% of the previous year, and the benefit stagnates by 0.8%.
They are figures of any European textile company, not the empire that used to other numbers.
In figures. The numbers are devastating:
- 8,274 million in sales …
- … When analysts expected 8,380 million.
It is the weakest growth since 2018, excluding pandemia. The stock market does not forgive: the shares collapse more than 4% and touch the 46 euros in intradic minimums.
The context. Three factors explain this unexpected normalization.
- The Strong euro devours international sales with an impact of 3% that the company did not know how to foresee.
- Torrential rains in Spain (15% of global sales) have stopped spring clothes purchases.
- Operating costs grow above income for the first time in years.
Between the lines. Balance data show something more worrying: Inditex is losing efficiency. Stocks rise 6.3% when the company is proud to maintain stocks minimum.
The net financial position falls by 7.3%. They are symptoms of a company that can no longer control all variables as well as before. Now it remains to see if it is something temporary or goes further.
Yes, but. The second quarter offers a respite: sales are growing 6% between May and June. Even so, it is half of the 12% registered a year ago in the same period.
The improvement exists, but it is still that of a normal company, not that of a phenomenon as it was so far.
The latest. The departure of José Arnau, vice president and right hand of Amancio Ortega for 24 years, symbolizes the end of an era. Its substitute, Roberto Cibeira, inherits a prosperous but mortal company.
The transformation is complete: Inditex has gone from being a business unicorn to a solid, but predictable multinational. The miracle is over and gives way to the era of maturity.
Outstanding image | Inditex
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