The fall/winter collections of Zara's parent company Inditex ES0148396007 are well received by consumers.

At the start of the new quarter, online and in-store sales in the weeks since the beginning of August increased by 9 percent year-on-year, adjusted for exchange rates, H&M's competitor SE0000106270 announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Spanish textile chain's first half of the fiscal year, which ended in July, experienced mixed results.

Although sales increased by 1.6 percent to just under €18.4 billion, they fell short of expectations. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased only slightly to €3.6 billion, in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by the Bloomberg news agency. The bottom line for shareholders was just under €2.8 billion, a similar amount to the previous year.

For the full year, Inditex sees itself on track to achieve a stable gross margin compared to the previous year. However, management now anticipates somewhat stronger headwinds from exchange rate effects.