Fast Retailing, the owner of fashion retailer Uniqlo, is on track for yet another “record year” as sales surged during the first quarter despite a sluggish performance in China.
Fast Retailing reported a 7.4% increase in operating profit during the first quarter to reach ¥157.5bn (£810m).
Revenue during the first quarter of the 2025 full-financial year was also up 10.4% year on year and hit ¥895.1bn (£5.67bn) as operations across Japan, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, North America and Europe all “continued to perform strongly”.
Uniqlo’s parent company as a result reported a 9% rise in revenue in Japan as well as a 13.7% increase for its international arm as a whole respectively.
At Uniqlo’s sister brand Gu, Fast Retailing reported a 3.1% rise in revenue to ¥90.6bn (£570m) while operating profit fell 20.2% to ¥9.8bn (£62m).
The fashion giant said same-store sales at Gu were flat year on year as a result of “insufficient development of hit products that capture mass fashion trends” and added that these are not influenced by changing temperatures.
Looking forward, Fast Retailing said it has maintained its initial forecast of hitting revenue of ¥3.4trn (£17.5bn) during the year as well as consolidated operating profit of ¥530bn (£2.74bn) and expects to achieve a “record” full-year performance.
At Uniqlo Japan, the retailer said T-shirts, bra tops and other items sold well in September, while its Heatteach innerwear and cashmere clothing “sold well” in November.
With an eye to Europe, Uniqlo credited its “strong” sales to the decision to launch winter ranges early, as well as its expanding brand visibility and customer base.
The story was slightly different in Mainland China as the region saw a dip in revenue as well as a “considerable drop in profits” as a result of the business “failing to compile sufficient product mixes” for the warm winter weather.
Fast Retailing said in a statement: “Given the strong performances from Southeast Asia, India & Australia, Europe, and North America, we predict Uniqlo International will achieve significantly higher revenue and profit in the first half of fiscal 2025. However, segment performance is expected to fall short of expectations given the fact that performance in Greater China is currently tracking below plan.
“Breaking the Uniqlo International forecasts down by geographical location, we predict Greater China will fall short of plan in the first half and report a decline in both revenue and profit. South Korea is expected to generate revenue and profit gains that are roughly in line with expectations, while Southeast Asia, India & Australia, North America and Europe are expected to perform largely to plan and generate significantly higher revenue and profit. Uniqlo Japan continues to generate strong sales illustrated most recently by another large increase in same-store sales in December.
“This segment is expected to exceed expectations and report a rise in first-half revenue and a large increase in first-half profit. Our Gu segment is expected to report higher revenue in the first half. However, first-half operating profit is expected to contract on the recording of store opening expenses relating to the first Gu USA store opening.
“Finally, our Global Brands segment is predicted to generate similar revenue to the previous year and a positive operating profit in the first half. While revenue is underperforming, operating profit is performing largely to plan.”
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