Fast Retailing: The success of Uniqlo, the main brand of the Japanese ready-to-wear company Fast Retailing, in the US, EU, and Southeast Asia was a major factor in Thursday’s announcement of “record” half-year earnings. Additionally, the full-year profit prediction was marginally raised by the corporation.

Net profit reached 195.9 billion yen (about 1.2 billion euros) for the first half of the fiscal year, from September 2023 to February 2024, an increase of 27.7 percent compared to the previous year. The operating profit increased by 16.7 percent year over year, reaching 257 billion yen. The overseas operations of Uniqlo and the group’s second big brand, GU, drove a 9% jump in sales to 1,598.9 billion yen (9.7 billion euros).

Uniqlo, on the other hand, saw a 2% drop in sales in Japan due to issues like a lack of product variety for the unusually warm winter and poor product marketing. Uniqlo saw a drop in sales in China as well, due to a combination of warmer winter weather and a downturn in customer demand.

Fast Retailing’s other brands, such as Theory, PLST, Comptoir des Cotonniers, and Princesse tam.tam, are still recovering slowly, even though Uniqlo and GU are doing well. These companies’ overall revenues fell little (-1.2% year-on-year) and they lost 1.7 billion yen (-€103 million) in operations. A 10% drop in Comptoir des Cotonniers stores compared to last year was one factor that Fast Retailing identified as contributing to the sales slump.

Fast Retailing maintains a positive outlook on its performance for the fiscal year 2023/24, even though certain brands have encountered difficulties. With a growth of 8% year-on-year, the company now expects yearly profits of 320 billion yen and a dividend of 350 yen per share, an increase of over 20% from the previous fiscal year. The sales prediction for Fast Retailing remained unchanged at 3,030 billion yen (€18.4 billion), representing strong growth of 9.5% year-on-year, while the operating profit forecast remained unchanged at 450 billion yen (+18.1% year-on-year).