MADRID: Fashion brand Zara's owner Inditex reported on Wednesday a 24.5% jump in six-month sales and a higher profit than a year ago, closing July on a strong footing just amid investors concerns that fashion demand started weakening last month due to rampant inflation.

The company said its revenues rose to 14.84 billion euros ($14.82 billion) between February and July from 11.9 billion euros reported in the same period in 2021. It booked a net profit of 1.79 billion euros, 41% up from the 1.27 billion euros registered last year.

CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras said sales kept on rising sharply in the most recent weeks. However, the annual growth rate slightly slowed down since the end of the first half to 11% in constant currency during the period between August 1 and September 11.

The results were in line with forecasts from analysts, who say the coming August-January period is likely to be challenging as demand may soften as a result of soaring costs of living.

($1 = 1.0012 euros) (Reporting by Corina Pons, editing by Inti Landauro.)