Zara has increased its quarterly profit by 80% as a result of the COVID wardrobe refurbishment

Inditex, the parent company of Zara, announced an 80 percent increase in quarterly profit on Wednesday, thanks to rising sales as people stranded at home due to the pandemic try to refresh their wardrobes. The company’s net profit for the February-April quarter increased to 760 million euros ($812.06 million), exceeding pre-pandemic levels, which was in line with analysts’ estimates. Sales increased by 36% to 6.7 billion euros in the first quarter, as the company was able to balance greater costs with price hikes at the start of the year.

Inditex recorded a profit of 734 million euros and sales of 5.93 billion euros in the first quarter of 2019 before the epidemic hit. Inditex was able to make up some of the revenue lost in Russia after the business closed its 502 stores there in March following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, thanks to the continued recovery in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Inditex made a profit of 940 million euros in the reporting quarter, except for the 216 million euros it lost due to outlet closures in Russia.

According to Inditex, Russia was the company’s second-largest market in terms of stores, accounting for 5% of sales growth from February 1 to March 13. Inditex outpaced its main rival H & M (HMB.ST) in the first three months of the fiscal year 2022, with net sales of $5.1 billion. Inditex is best known for the fast-to-market Zara brand, which accounts for 71 percent of the company’s revenues.