The multinational already has 10,070 million cash available for investment

Inditex has no debt, but it has 10,070 million euros available (8% more than the previous year) for any action or investment it wants to undertake. García Maceiras, the company’s CEO, highlighted this position because it allows them to grow prudently and without ties.

What about inflation?

Prices will remain stable. In the context of rising inflation, the CEO of Inditex qualified that prices will remain stable and that there will be no price increases that do not take into account the type, commercial format and different markets. In case of price increase, they will always be selective. When asked about the amount of the average ticket, the manager said that it depends on each format, but that they remained constant in any case.

new market

What was not known about the USA and the used clothes project? García Maceiras stated that the US is a very important market for the company, due to its huge growth potential. Out of every hundred dollars sold in fashion, only 50 cents is received by the Galician multinational, he said, referring to the North American market.

All actions planned for this year in the United States will focus on Zara, the flagship of the group.

García Maceiras also announced that the Zara Pre Owned project, a platform that allows the repair, resale or donation of used clothing, which has been developed in the United Kingdom since November 3, will be replicated in 2023 in the French and German markets. It will also arrive in Spain in the unspecified future.

dividends

Record distribution: exceeds one euro per share. As for the dividend policy, it will continue to be “attractive and predictable”. The board will propose to the meeting an increase of 29% to EUR 1.20 per share, which consists of an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.796 and an extraordinary dividend of EUR 0.404 per share. They will be paid on May 2 and November 2. Amancio Ortega, the first shareholder, will collect 2.217 million.

d Ferovi’s case

Spain and headquarters. During his intervention in front of the media, García Maceiras did not skip the script. As expected, he was asked about the departure of Ferrovial, and as expected, he did not evaluate the situation in the other company. “Inditex has and will continue to have its headquarters in Spain, here we paid 6,000 million for 6,750 suppliers who are in the country, our tax contribution is 1,800 million euros, and the effective rate we pay is 23%,” he emphasized.

a new strategy

Leap forward. The results will enable the company to undertake a series of “leap forward” initiatives. They will include an investment of 1,600 million euros, which will be used, for example, to strengthen logistics capacities, improve the shopping experience of customers and undertake investments in physical stores. García Maceiras announced the arrival of Oysho in the United Kingdom and Stradivarius in Germany.

He insisted that a detailed analysis will be undertaken to find out which stores are worth absorbing to adapt to the new model of larger and more efficient properties, in a way that facilitates the integration of brick-and-mortar and channels. on the line.

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Salary increase. García Maceiras did not specify what the effect of the wage increase agreed with the workforce in Spain would be, but he was confident that the good performance of the stores and the commitment of the workers will make “we are able to face the wage improvements”.

falling shares

Long-term interpretations. How could it not be otherwise, the CEO of Inditex was asked about the drop in the share price despite good results in 2022. In his opinion, long-term interpretations of the market are the most valuable. “We hope that the shareholders believe in the growth of the company,” he said.

Bankinter points out that Inditex accumulates annual growth of 17 percent and in the current context may have invited investors to take advantage of the benefits.

Another factor that, according to several analyst houses, could have caused the decline (it ended with a 5.11% decline) is related to the announced investment of 1,600 million — well above the 1,100 in 2022 — which accelerates the rate of investment, especially in the US -u, where it strives to increase capacity and efficiency.

Operation in Russia

Administrative approval is pending. The sale of the Russian business, which was announced in October to the Daher group, is awaiting “some administrative approval,” Inditex’s chief executive said. Then the transfer of rights to a very important part of the space it had on Russian territory, as well as a significant part of the workforce, will be consolidated. García Maceiras emphasized that the return to Russia will always be a sovereign decision and will not be conditioned by the agreement reached by Daher. In the hypothetical case that Inditex returns to Russia in the future, it would only be under a franchise regime with Daher.

Balance sheet of the first year

Trust and fluidity in the relationship with Marta Ortega. Sales, at a constant exchange rate, at the beginning of the spring-summer 2023 season — from February 1 to March 13 — continued to grow at a double-digit rate, more precisely 13.5% compared to the same period in 2022, data that was positively evaluated by by Renta 4 analysts.

García Maceiras was satisfied with the development of the business, and he recalled the words of Marta Ortega at the last meeting: “We have a great responsibility and a future in front of us that forces us to give our best.” When asked what his relationship with the company’s president was like in this first year, he said: “It went by quickly. It was an exercise of enormous intensity and the relationship was incredibly fluid and full of absolute trust.