MADRID (AP) — The owner of Zara fashion stores said Wednesday that net profit surged by 6 percent in the first nine months of its fiscal year as it continued its international expansion with both online and physical stores.

Inditex clothes retailer said net profit from February through October was 2.34 billion euros ($2.7 billion), compared with 2.2 billion euros for the same period last year. Sales rose 10 percent to 17.9 billion euros.

The group was founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and has become the world's largest clothes retailer with eight brands, including Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull & Bear.

It opened new stores in Belarus this summer and continued expanding in all markets, mostly in Asia. It owns 7,504 shops in 94 countries, more than half of them with online stores.

Inditex shares were up 2.6 percent at 31.5 euros in early trading in Madrid.