Zara and Massimo Dutti Face Slower Growth in India Under Trent, With Less Than 1%

Inditex is contracting its growth in India, a market on which it has recently bet, attracted by its population and its growing purchasing power. According to the annual report of Trent, Inditex's partner in India, the tandem formed by Zara and Massimo Dutti has grown less than 1% in its last fiscal year (corresponding to 2024), with a combined turnover of less than 300 million euros.

In India, Inditex's flagship store, Zara, has achieved a turnover of 27,820 million rupees (281 million euros), from the twenty-two stores it has in thirteen cities in the country. For its part, Massimo Dutti only recorded a turnover of one billion rupees (ten million euros) thanks to the three stores it has in the country.

According to Trent's annual report, Zara will only open more stores if it finds spacious premises that match the quality the company wants to offer in the country. It mentions nothing about Massimo Dutti's upcoming openings, even though the brand has a significantly smaller presence.

Zara only intends to expand in the country if it finds premises that adapt to its space conditions.

In fiscal 2024, the Galician fashion retail giant sealed the acquisition of a further 14% of the joint venture it has in India to manage Zara's store network and took control of 65% of its capital. In addition, the group created two new companies for the country.

Inditex currently has five subsidiaries in the Indian market, four of them dedicated to commercial activity and one to purchasing. The group has a call option on 35% and 49% of the share capital of Inditex Trent Retail India Private Limited and Massimo Dutti India Private Limited, respectively, currently held by Trent.

In the last year, Inditex has also entered India with the companies Bershka Retail India Private Limited and Zara Home Retail India Private Limited, both wholly owned by the Spanish company. Inditex opened its first store in India in 2010 with Tata, with whom it created (through the Asian group's subsidiary Trent) a joint venture controlled 51% by Inditex and 49% by Tata.