Zara is crushing it

Inditex, the Spanish fashion giant behind chains such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, is on a roll.

The company, which recently hit a $100 billion (£65 billion) valuation, just beat forecasts with a solid set of half-year results on Wednesday, announcing:

• a 17% rise in sales to €9.42 billion (£6.9 billion, $10.6 billion);
• net profit up 26% to €1.16 billion (£850 million,$1.31 billion);
• 94 new stores opened, bringing total to 6,777 across 88 countries.

The crown jewel in the Inditex empire is Zara, which does affordable and fashionable basics - a bit like a higher-rent Primark. Zara's success has turned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega into Europe's richest man.

Zara and its spin-off Zara Home accounted for the lion's share of new openings in the first six months of the year, with 24 new Zara stores worldwide and 25 new Zara Home stores.

Zara is also pushing into Asia, opening online stores serving Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in the period.

Inditex says business has continued to be good, too, with Zara saying sales have risen 16% in the month since the cutoff for half-year results.