// Uniqlo revenue down 12.3% after global impact of coronavirus
// Japanese apparel brand predicted to bounce back from impact of pandemic by 2021 with a 64% rise in profit by August next year
// Uniqlo aiming to open a flagship in every major city worldwide
For the year just ended, Fast Retailing reported JPY 149 billion (GBP 1.09 billion) operating profit, above the market consensus forecast of JPY 137 billion (GBP 1 billion), according to Refinitiv.
Uniqlo’s parent company achieved JPY 153 billion (GBP 1.12 billion) in pretax profit in the financial year to August 31 2020, a drop of 39.4 per cent.
READ MORE: Uniqlo sales rise thanks to demand for loungewear
In a full year trading announcement on Thursday, Fast Retailing revealed revenue fell 12.3 per cent to JPY 2.008 trillion (GBP 14.6 billion).
Looking ahead, Fast Retailing said it aims to the world’s number one apparel retailer, and will focus its efforts on further international expansion of Uniqlo stores, alongside global flagships and large-format stores in every major city in the world.
Profit is expected to rebound by 64 per cent in the next fiscal year, as people in Japan and China, the company’s two main markets, resume shopping.
Uniqlo’s domestic same-store sales jumped 10 per cent in August from a year earlier, attributed to its re-usable Airism masks and leisure wear clothing designed for what Fast Retailing describes as “stay-at-home-needs”.
Refinitiv analysts say a full recovery will not rely solely on the global recovery of coronavirus, but also on Uniqlo’s ability to offer more than cost-effective casualwear.
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