Japan’s Fast Retailing Group (Fast Retailing Group), which owns brands such as Uniqlo and GU, experienced a decline in revenue and profits in the first quarter, mainly due to weak business in South Korea and Hong Kong, China.
For the three months ended November 30, 2019, compared with 73.48 billion yen in the same period in 2018, the group’s total profit was 70.91 billion yen (equivalent to US$645.3 million) . The group’s consolidated revenue dropped from 623.5 billion yen to 644.5 billion yen.
Fast Retailing said the weak performance was mainly due to the significant decrease in sales profits of the Uniqlo business divisions in South Korea and Hong Kong, China, and the lower-than-expected profit growth of Uniglo Japan. Gross profit margin in the first quarter fell 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 50.2%.
“Uniqlo Japan” revenue fell this quarter, but profits grew. Revenue fell 5.3% to 233 billion yen, and operating profit grew 1.6% to 385 billion yen. billion yen. Same-store sales (including online sales) fell 4.1% year over year in the first quarter.
At the same time, “Uniqlo International” revenue fell by 3.6% to 280.7 billion yen, and operating profit fell by 28% to 37.8 billion yen. Sales in the global brand division fell 11.4% to 36.1 billion yen, and operating profit fell 31.5% to 1.8 billion yen.
The company stated in its performance report: The group’s mid-term vision is to become the world’s largest ready-to-wear retailer. To achieve this goal, we will be committed to expanding Uniqlo International, the GU brand and global e-commerce business.
We will continue to increase the number of Uniqlo stores in the markets and regions where we operate, and open global flagship stores and large stores in major cities around the world to integrate Uniqlo’s LifeWear concept Gradually transmit it to consumers in an in-depth and extensive manner.
