By Cecilia Butini 
 

Shares in Industria de Diseno Textil rose in early trade Wednesday after the Zara clothing-brand owner posted rising sales and earnings for the first quarter which beat analysts' expectations.

At 0728 GMT, shares were up 5.1% to EUR33.45.

The Spanish company, known as Inditex, said quarterly sales grew to 7.61 billion euros ($8.14 billion) from EUR6.74 billion in the first quarter of the year prior, beating analysts' expectations of EUR7.56 billion, and were positive in all geographical areas and concepts.

The company posted operating income of EUR1.48 billion for the first quarter, up from EUR1.03 billion the year prior, and beating analysts' expectations of EUR1.34 billion.

Net profit also grew in the quarter, reaching EUR1.17 billion from EUR766 million in the same quarter of the previous year, according to company figures.

Quarterly gross margin reached 60.5%, an increase of 34 basis points from the first quarter of 2022, it said.

Sales in constant currency--both in stores and online--grew 16% between May 1 and June 4 versus the same period the year before, the company said.

According to Jefferies analysts, Inditex's first-quarter EBIT beat and its strong start into the second quarter hint at the prospect of margins rising beyond pre-Covid-19 peaks. "This is a stunning print which will be suitably welcome by investors," the U.S. bank's analysts said in a note.

Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2023 03:57 ET (07:57 GMT)