Thursday, March 28

Inditex sinks 16% on the stock market since the invasion of Ukraine while keeping its stores open in Russia


Week in red for Inditex on the stock market. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the owner of Zara has lost more than 16% of its value on the parquet. Days marked by war, not only from a military point of view, but also by international pressure, economic sanctions and the decision of large multinationals to cease their operations in Russian territory.

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In recent days, distribution giants such as Ikea, H&M or the Spanish Mango have announced that they are closing their stores in that country. On the other hand, Inditex has not taken, for the time being, a decision in the same direction.

The company founded by Amancio Ortega has stores in both Ukraine and Russia. In the first, 80 establishments that closed more than a week ago, with the beginning of the invasion.

The multinational still chaired by Pablo Isla assured after the invasion that it was following the events “very closely”. “The safety of the members of our staff and their families is our priority and we are going to make the appropriate decisions,” he said.

Russia has more weight in the business of the Galician company. There it has more than 9,000 employees and it is its second country by number of stores, behind Spain. It has 527. The chain with which it has the most presence is Bershka, with more than 100 stores. They are joined by another 86 from Zara. They also have Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho and Zara Home stores, as well as the Uterqüe chain that is closing.

After the close of this Friday, each Inditex share is worth 20.36 euros on the stock market, which leaves its value on the parquet at just over 68,000 million euros. The main victim of the stock market crash is Amancio Ortega, who controls almost 60% of the capital.

In fact, its price is at a minimum of the last five years and even below the prices it set during the pandemic, when it had to close a large part of its store network and went into losses.

Mango closes and Tendam thinks about it

The only Spanish company that has closed its operations in Russia is Mango, which has temporarily closed its 120 establishments – half of them franchises – in addition to its online activity.

“Given the responsibility we have with our 800 employees in Russia, as well as with our franchisees and partners, we have tried to maintain our operations in the country until the last moment,” the Barcelona company has justified through its social networks.

“Finally, Mango has made the decision to temporarily suspend its operations in Russia, closing its stores and its online platform, as well as the shipment of garments to the country,” it adds in the same statement.

Another company that may follow the same steps is Tendam, the owner of Cortefiel, Springfield and Women’Secret. He assures, according to Europa Press, that he is analyzing the situation to make a decision about his 50 stores in that market and that, today, he has “all the options on the table”.



www.eldiario.es