A shopper carries a bag from Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish Inditex group, in Bilbao, Spain, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Vincent West/Files
March 16, 2022
By Corina Pons
MADRID (Reuters) -Sales at Zara owner Inditex surged well above pre-COVID levels at the start of its new financial year, though the world’s No.1 fashion retailer faces a challenge in the months ahead after it stopped trading in Russia, a major market.
Inditex shares tumbled on March 5 after the company closed its 502 shops and stopped online sales in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of Western sanctions. Russia and Ukraine accounted for 5% of its sales growth in February-March.
The Spanish group, whose brands also include Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, said on Wednesday its store and online sales leapt 33% between Feb. 1 and March 13 from the same period a year earlier, and…
