The Japanese retail group Fast Retailing Co. Ltd raised its profit and sales forecasts for the 2025/26 financial year on Thursday. The parent company of the clothing chain Uniqlo justified this with robust results in the first quarter, which ended at the end of November, and a turnaround in the Chinese market.
The clothing giant had posted record profits for the fourth consecutive year in the 2024/25 financial year, which ended at the end of August. Since the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has significantly accelerated its international expansion outside of Japan.
An operating profit of 650 billion Japanese yen (3.9 billion euros) is now expected for the 2025/26 financial year, which began in September. The previous forecast was 610 billion yen. Net profit is expected to reach 450 billion Japanese yen, instead of the previously expected 435 billion.
Sales are expected to increase by around 11.7 percent to 3.8 trillion yen (22.8 billion euros) for the year as a whole. This forecast was also revised upwards.
The increases came despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs. According to Fast Retailing, this reflects “robust global growth across all regions”.
This also includes a turnaround in China, the company’s largest market outside of Japan. While sales and profits there declined in the previous fiscal year, Uniqlo International is now reporting a recovery in revenue for the first quarter from September to November. The company also reported double-digit profit growth in mainland China.
According to its own information, the group benefited from the cold snap in the country from the end of October. A revised marketing strategy and the acquisition of new customers through a partnership with the leading local e-commerce company JD.com also contributed to this.
At the same time, Uniqlo also reported double-digit sales and profit growth in North America and Europe for the first quarter. The company explained that brand awareness has increased in these two regions thanks to the opening of new stores, particularly in the UK and Germany.
Overall, Fast Retailing increased its sales by 14.8 percent to 1.03 trillion yen (6.17 billion euros) in the first quarter from September to November compared to the same period last year. This was well above the average expectations of 990 billion yen among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Net profit rose 11.7 percent to 147.4 billion yen, while the market had expected 130.1 billion yen.
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