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Inditex

Integrated model and retail optimisation, FY2026 outlook

Flexibility, responsiveness and within-season proximity sourcing
Inditex’s business model is characterised by

Integrated model and retail optimisation

Inditex, which owns Zara, sold €39.9 billion in the year to January 2026 and €19.8 billion in the six months to July 2026, 9.2% more without currency. It has 5,444 stores, fewer than three years ago, but more selling space.

1

A unique product proposition

  1. CreativityKeep focusing on the creativity, quality, and design of all products, and reinforce the commercial initiatives of every concept.
  2. CollaborationsKeep rolling out special projects with some of the most powerful talents of fashion, art, and culture.
  3. Within-seasonReact to fashion trends through flexibility, responsiveness, and within-season proximity sourcing.

Sales rose 7.6% to €19.8 billion in the first half of 2026, and 9.2% in constant currency.

Gross margin rose 40 basis points to 58.7%, and gross profit rose 8.3% to €11.6 billion.

Store and online sales rose 9% in constant currency from 1 August to 7 September 2026.

All six concepts grew in the first half of 2026

The smaller concepts grew faster than Zara. Each bubble is as big as the concept’s sales, and its place is set by the scale you choose.

0%5%10%15%20%Oysho21.3% · €0.5bn salesStradivarius18.5% · €1.6bn salesBershka16.7% · €1.7bn salesMassimo Dutti10.4% · €1.0bn salesPull&Bear8.9% · €1.3bn salesZarawith Zara Home and Lefties4.8% · €13.8bn sales

Growth is the first half of 2026 against the first half of 2025, and is worked out from the sales in the release. The profit before tax margin is worked out from each concept’s 2025 profit before tax and sales.

Sales grew 22% in three years while stores fell 6%

Inditex refurbishes, enlarges, relocates, and absorbs stores, and calls this Retail Optimisation.

Three years ago = 100Sales+22%Net selling space+6%Stores−6%

Growth is on a reported basis. The bars start from 100 at the beginning of the three years.

Openings190
Refurbishments, 96 of them enlargements217
Absorptions293

Stores in 2025, a square for every ten. At the end of FY2025 Inditex operated 5,460 stores.

Currency will take about 1% off growth in 2026

Inditex sells in 215 markets and reports in euros, so currency moves its figures. It gives growth both with and without currency effects every time.

Growth in sales, %Trading updates, constant currency3.2%7.0%Year 2025to January 20265.8%8.8%First quarter 2026to April 20267.6%9.2%First half 2026to July 2026As reportedConstant currency9%1 Febto 8 Mar11.5%1 Mayto 1 Jun9%1 Augto 7 Sep

The 1 May to 1 June update was helped by calendar effects, as Inditex notes. Each update is for the weeks just after the period it follows.

Gross space
About +5%
with a positive net space contribution
Gross margin
Stable, ±50 bps
for 2026
Currency on sales
About −1%
at current exchange rates
Ordinary capital spending
About €2.3bn
and close to €200 million of extraordinary

Inditex’s expectations for 2026.

  1. Make the store count a result, not a goal.

    Over three years Inditex’s sales grew 22% while its number of stores fell 6% and its net space rose 6%. It does not set a number of stores to reach, and it reports optimisation as activity: openings, refurbishments, and absorptions. We recommend setting the outcome you want from a network, and counting the changes that get you there separately.

  2. Give the year’s constraints a number.

    For 2026 Inditex says about 5% more gross space, a stable gross margin within 50 basis points, a 1% drag from currency, and around €2.3 billion of ordinary capital spending. We recommend writing the year’s few fixed points as numbers with their tolerance, so every result can be read against them.

  3. Report growth in the currency you can control.

    Sales rose 7.6% in the first half as reported and 9.2% in constant currency, and Inditex shows both, with the currency effect expected to be about −1% for the year. We recommend always giving the figure with and without what you cannot influence, so that a strong or weak quarter is not credited to the plan by accident.

Sources

  1. 1. Inditex (2026). Interim half year 2026 results. inditex.com, 9 September 2026. inditex.com
  2. 2. Inditex (2026). First quarter 2026 results. inditex.com, 3 June 2026. inditex.com
  3. 3. Inditex (2026). FY2025 results. inditex.com, 11 March 2026. inditex.com

Headwater is not connected with Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, and Lefties are trade marks of their owners. Updated 28 September 2026.

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