Fast Retailing marks record sales

 

uniqlo3Uniqlo parent company, Fast Retailing, has topped 1 trillion yen ($10.2 billion) in sales for the first time. The Japanese apparel retailer  reported a net income rise of 26 per cent to 90.4 billion yen ($918 million) during the 12 months.

The company said net sales of Uniqlo Japan expanded 10.2 per cent to 683.3 billion yen ($6.9 billion), supported by a 7.3 per cent increase in same store sales, however, a fall in the gross profit margin and an increase in business cost ratios led to a decline in operating income of 5.4 per cent to 96.8 billion yen ($983 million).

Uniqlo Japan has a network of 834 stores, an increase of 10 compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, Uniqlo International generated a sales rise 64 per cent to 251.1 billion yen ($2.5 billion) and an operating income of 67 per cent to 18.3 billion yen ($186 million).

Uniqlo performed strongly in Asia – especially China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan – where it generated a combined sales of 125 billion yen ($1.3 billion) and an operating income of 13.5 billion yen ($137 million).

The company said Uniqlo operations in Southeast Asia, which span Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, performed strongly.

However, Uniqlo US and Uniqlo South Korea fell short of target, it says.

Fast Retailing expects sales and net income for the year to August 2014 to increase to 1.3 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) and 92 billion yen ($934 million), below analysts’ estimates of 99.3 billion yen ($1 billion).

The company plans to increase its Uniqlo Japan store network to 866 and Uniqlo overseas to 644 by the end of August 2014. It also plans to grow its other brands including casualwear brand GU, French labels Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam, and premium denim brand J Brand.

Owner Tadayashi Yanai has an ambitious plan to make the company the biggest clothing retailer in the world by 2020. Last month the retailer confirmed the location of its first Australian store, expected to open in the second quarter of 2014.

 

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