Booming profits are all the fashion for Zara

The Spanish group behind the fashion chain Zara showed yesterday it is possible to make money on the UK high street even as rivals flounder.

Zara, which has 65 stores in the UK and is planning a fifth shop on Oxford Street in London, is part of the giant Inditex fashion group, whose shares have tripled in the past five years.

The parent company, the world's biggest fashion group, grew its profits by nearly a quarter last year, following an explosive opening programme globally.

Inditex, which also owns the Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka chains, also got its new financial year off to a strong start, with sales up by 12 per cent since February.

The group grew its profits by 22 per cent to €2.3bn (£2bn) over the year to 31 January, on bulging revenues of €15.9bn. Sales at stores open at least a year rose by 6 per cent. Inditex opened 482 stores last year to take its total beyond 6,000 in 86 countries.