El Corte Inglés grows 0.4% in the first semester and raises ebitda a 4.4%

El Corte Inglés improves profitability in the first half of the year. The Spanish company of department stores has ended the first semester of fiscal 2018 (between March and August) with an increase of 4.4% of gross operating profit (EBITDA), situated at 335 million euros.

The company explains such increase in the improvement of margins of all the group’s departments due to the new strategic actions that are taking place. In the whole of the company, gross margin has increased in twenty basic points, the equivalent of a 1.2% more.

Between March and August, El Corte Inglés has registered a volume of business valued in 7.58 billion euros, a 0.4% more than during the same period last year. The weak advancement is excused by the impact of weather in some areas of the retail business.

As per divisions, retail had a revenue of 6.01 billion euros, a 0.6% less than in the first half of 2017. The group’s fashion sales dropped a 1.5%, although the company claims that it can recover from the downturn in the second half of the year, assuring that it is then when the majority of its business takes place.

The fashion sales of El Corte Inglés dropped a 1.5% in the first half of the year and expects to recover them during the second semester

On the other hand, the group, led since last summer by Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, has reduced the debt and the financial expenses. During the first six months of the fiscal year, the net financial debt has descended in 347 million euros, standing at 3.65 billion euros at the end of the period.

The company explains that refinancing process carried out during previous months has reduced finance expenses in 18 million euros, reaching the 68 million between March and August.