International fashion group Inditex has posted a 10 per cent first-quarter profit rise to €219 million (£173.7 million).

Inditex, which owns chains including Zara and Pull and Bear, said the uplift was the highest since it listed in 2001.

Sales climbed 12 per cent to €2.22 billion (£1.76 billion) in the quarter. Inditex opened 145 shops during the period – including in the new market of Korea – bringing its store count to a total of 3,890 in 70 countries.

In the first six weeks of the second quarter, sales were in line with management expectations, Inditex reported.

Credit Suisse analyst Tony Shiret described the results as “mixed”. He was concerned that operating expenditure rose faster than sales, as did inventory. He said: “Local currency sales growth for the year to date has increased by 14 per cent, implying late-teens sales growth so far in the second quarter.

“This figure will have been boosted by the better May weather and should not be taken too literally. The company made a similarly upbeat current trade comment at the beginning of the first quarter, which proved unsustainable.”