HispanicBusiness

The Spanish textile group Inditex, owner of Zara and seven other brands, saw its net profit rise by 22 per cent to 2.4 billion euros (3.1 billion dollars) in 2012, it said Wednesday.

The world's largest clothes retailer based its growth on the Chinese, American and internet markets while sales suffered in austerity-hit Spain and Greece.

Inditex now has 6,009 stores in 86 countries after opening 482 new ones in 2012.

The group has nearly 400 shops in China, its second market after Spain.

Spain's share of Inditex turnover dropped from 25 to 21 per cent, while the share of Asia rose from 18 to 20 per cent and of North and Latin America from 12 to 14 per cent. European countries other than Spain contributed 45 per cent.

Inditex entered new markets including Georgia, Ecuador and Macedonia in 2012. It also sells over the internet in 23 countries.