The owners of Spanish fashion retailer Zara have revealed a net increase in profits of 26 percent in the first half of the fiscal year.<br /><br /> Thanks to its flagship store, Inditex says sales in the period to the end of July grew by 17 percent to nearly nine-and-a-half billion euros, bringing a net profit of 1.16 billion euros.<br /><br /> The surging sales, which put the company ahead of its main rivals such as H&M, were helped by the weak euro.<br /><br /> Several Zara stores in key world cities including London have also been refurbished.<br /><br /> Inditex, which also owns Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear and Oysho, says it has opened 94 new shops worldwide in six months, taking on 10,000 more workers in a year – a quarter of them in Spain.
