Inditex has reported net profit of €214 million for the second quarter, compared with a €409 million loss during the previous three months.

The retail group - which owns Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti - still posted a net loss of €195 million though, but this was mostly put down to a previously announced €308 million provision for its advanced store digitalisation programme, without which Inditex said it would have made an overall profit of €39 million for the first half of the year.

For the first half of 2020, financial statements showed total sales reaching €8 billion - a 37 per cent year-on-year decline. However, online sales rose by 74 per cent in the first half, which helped offset the loss of sales from lockdown store closures.

The company now expects online sales to account for more than a quarter of its total turnover by 2022, compared with 14 per cent in 2019.

Inditex said that 98 per cent of its store estate has now reopened.

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