After the first three quarters of the 2021/22 financial year, the Japanese clothing retailer Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. very good there. The solid nine-month figures that the group presented on Thursday were mainly due to the strong foreign business of its textile chain Uniqlo. In view of the pleasing development in recent weeks, the company has raised its forecast for the full year.
In the months of September to May, Fast Retailing generated sales of 1.77 trillion Japanese yen (12.7 billion euros). Compared to the same period of the previous year, this means an increase of 3.9 percent.
The textile retailer Uniqlo had to accept a drop in sales of 5.1 percent to 640.9 billion Japanese yen in its home country of Japan. However, these losses were more than offset by a strong plus in the Uniqlo International division. Their revenues grew by 13.7 percent to 841.2 billion Japanese yen.
Sales of the GU label fell by 5.1 percent to 190.5 billion Japanese yen, while the other group brands, which include Theory and Comptoir des Cotonniers, came together to achieve sales totaling 90.0 billion Japanese yen, an improvement by 11.8 percent.
In terms of earnings, the group was even able to increase disproportionately: The operating profit grew by 19.0 percent compared to the same period last year and reached a level of 271.1 billion Japanese yen, the net result attributable to the shareholders was 237.8 billion Japanese yen (1, 71 billion euros) and thus exceeded the comparative value of the previous year by 57.1 percent.
Based on business developments in recent months, the Group has set higher targets for the full year, which ends on August 31. The sales forecast was increased from 2.20 to 2.25 trillion Japanese yen, and the operating result is now expected to be 290 instead of the previous 270 billion Japanese yen. The forecast for net profit attributable to shareholders was even raised by almost a third from 190 to 250 billion Japanese yen.