The Japanese clothing group Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. was able to achieve significant increases in sales and earnings in the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year. The group owed its strong momentum primarily to the strong foreign business of its Uniqlo retail chain.
Uniqlo’s international business remains the growth engine
According to a statement published on Thursday, group sales in the months from September to November amounted to 810.8 billion Japanese yen (5.1 billion euros). This corresponded to an increase of 13.2 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In the Japanese home market, Uniqlo’s sales grew by 1.5 percent to 244.4 billion Japanese yen. The Uniqlo International division developed significantly more dynamically: its sales increased by 23.3 percent to 441.3 billion Japanese yen.
Quarterly profit increases by more than a quarter
The GU brand achieved an increase of 10.7 percent to 87.8 billion Japanese yen. The group’s other labels, which include Theory, PLST and Comptoir des Cotonniers, achieved combined sales of 36.6 billion Japanese yen, missing the level of the previous year’s quarter by 2.4 percent.
The group also made significant progress in terms of earnings: operating profit grew by 25.3 percent to 146.6 billion Japanese yen. The quarterly surplus attributable to shareholders even increased by 26.7 percent to 107.8 billion Japanese yen (675.7 million euros).
The group confirms its annual forecasts
The surprisingly strong figures in the first quarter saw company management confirm its goals for the entire financial year, which were formulated in mid-October.
An increase in sales of 10.2 percent to 3.05 trillion Japanese yen and an increase in net profit attributable to shareholders of 4.6 percent to 310.0 billion Japanese yen are therefore still expected.