On Thursday, Japan’s Fast Retailing Co (9983.T), owner of Uniqlo, announced a 16.4% increase in first-half operating profit as sales in China rebounded, and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe grew.
In the six months through February, operational profit was 220 billion yen ($1.65 billion), up from 189 billion a year earlier.
Fast Retailing boosted its full-year profit expectation to 360 billion yen from 350 billion in January. According to a Refinitiv survey of 14 experts, the consensus annual profit projection is 347 billion yen.
Fast Retailing’s 900 Uniqlo shops in China, the company’s biggest international market, surpass Japan’s.
After a 2% drop in the first quarter ended November due to COVID-19 limits in the world’s second-largest economy, Japan’s largest retailer’s operational profit rose.
