Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing said it’s anticipating a third year of record profits, despite wiping £104m off its sales forecast, as the fashion retailer ramps up its expansion across Europe and North America.
The group said its European and North American businesses both reported large revenue and profit gains that were higher than expected, which it attributed to “continued growth in new customer bases and growing support for LifeWear among local customers”.
Its growth plans for the two western markets come as sales in its home market weaken further, with seven flagship stores in Europe and North America now among its top 10 best-selling Uniqlo stores.
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Uniqlo Europe CEO Taku Morikawa said: “The apparel market in Europe is worth 70 trillion yen ($457 billion), but Uniqlo’s share is still only about 0.5% of that.”
“In the central areas of London and Paris, Uniqlo has not caught fire in comparison to competitors.”
It said an “accelerated opening” of new stores across the two western markets had contributed to “extremely strong performances”, and as a result, Fast Retailing now expects the two regions to deliver record performances in its fiscal second-half to end of August.
The group reported pre-tax profit had rocketed a near 30% to £1.56bn (299 billion yen) in the six months to February as sales rose 9% to £8.3bn (1,598 billion yen).
Fast Retailing said that despite expecting to achieve a record full-year performance, it had revised down it sales forecast by £104m (20 billion yen) to £15.9bn (3.03 trillion yen) to reflect the shortfall in first six months.
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