BRIEFS

High fashion

]The world's biggest clothing group, Spain's Inditex, which controls the Zara brand, has posted a record 2012 profit of €2.4 billion ($2.9 billion), up 22 per cent, as expansion abroad offsets belt-tightening by domestic consumers.



2.5% New Zealand's central bank left interest rates at a record low of 2.5 per cent and predicted they would remain there for the rest of the year.



Smart move

BlackBerry says it has received an order for 1 million of its new smartphones – the largest ever single purchase in the company’s history.