Pontegadea’s Profits Rose By 8% In 2015 To €795M

19 July 2016 – Expansión

Pontegadea Inversiones, the company through which Amancio Ortega (pictured above) controls 50% of Inditex (he owns an additional 9.28% stake through Partler) generated revenues of €810 million in 2015, up by 5.46% compared with the year before. This amount came entirely from the distribution of dividends by Inditex. The net result for the year was €795 million, up by 8.16% compared with €735 million in 2014.

Pontegadea Inversiones’ own funds amounted to €10,037 million at the end of 2015, well above their level at the end of 2014 (€7,861 million). In addition to the organic growth of the company, whose only business involves receiving dividends from Inditex, this significant increase was due to the absorption of the company Gartler, which was completed in October last year.

The directors of the company are Amancio Ortega; his wife and the Vice-President, Flora Pérez; and his two right hand men: José Arnau, as the second Vice-President of Pontegadea, and Roberto Cibeira, the CEO of Pontegadea Inmobiliaria.

Pontegadea Inversiones’ liabilities amounted to €226 million at the end of 2015.

Ortega decided to inject €717.6 million of Pontegadea Inversiones’ revenues (€810 million) into Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, the subsidiary that groups together the Inditex founder’s investments in the real estate sector. That figure was 12.4% lower than the amount invested in 2014 (€820 million).

Pontegadea Inmobiliaria’s individual results in 2015 reported revenues of €103 million, compared with €182 million in 2014. These figures reflect the impact of the absorption of Gartler by Pontegadea Inversiones, given that, prior to that operation, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria owned a stake in Gartler, which was transferred to its parent company in October last year.

Pontegadea Inmobiliaria’s net result in 2015 amounted to €106 million, compared with €184 million in 2014, a result that also reflected the transfer of Gartler to Pontegadea Inversiones.

In 2014, Gartler had injected dividends amounting to €75 million from Inditex into Pontegadea Inmobiliaria. Ortega’s real estate arm closed 2015 with a total assets of €6,058 million and net equity of €5,460 million.

Zara

Inditex has confirmed that it will open a Zara mega store in Nuevos Ministerios, on Paseo de la Castellana, 79, just a stone’s throw from El Corte Inglés. It will likely become the brand’s largest store and Zara will probably close its existing store on Calle Orense as a result.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake