For the first half ended July 31, Inditex’s net profit dropped to 375 million ($550.4 million) from 406 million a year earlier, while sales were up 6.6 percent at 4.86 billion. Sales in stores open at least a year, however, shrank by an annual 2 percent in the fiscal first half, compared with a decline of .7 percent in second half, and operating costs grew 8 percent as Inditex continued to expand its empire. The retailer opened 166 new stores in the first half, down from 249 a year earlier. Inditex’s gross margin fell to 55.3 percent of sales from 56.4 percent a year earlier. Analysts’ at- tributed the decline to a stronger dollar, which is making it more costly to source materials, and pricing pressures in the company’s main market, Spain.