MADRID, June 10 — Spain’s Inditex, which owns the Zara fashion chain, reported today a first quarter loss of 409 million euros as the coronavirus crisis devastated sales.

Sales for the January to March period nearly halved, to €3.3 billion (RM16 billion) from €5.9 billion a year earlier, it said.

The group reported a first quarter 2019 net profit of €734 million.

It said this year’s first quarter loss included a provision of €308 million for work in its shops and without this cost, the net loss would have been €175 million.

Online sales meanwhile jumped 50 per cent in the three months, with a gain of 95 per cent in April as governments imposed tough lockdowns around the world.

The company said sales were down 51 per cent in May and off 34 per cent in the first week of June. — AFP