North America sales made up 9.2% of the company's total revenue
By Kosaku Narioka
The Japanese owner of Uniqlo and other brands reported another record year, driven by stronger earnings across regions as new store openings boosted sales, and forecast even higher profit this fiscal year.
To meet that goal, Fast Retailing plans to open stores in San Francisco, Miami and Cannes, France, in the coming months, after recently opening new locations in New York and Cambridge, U.K.
In the key China market, where profit fell last year amid sluggish consumer demand, the company has seen encouraging signs of recovery following operational changes.
Fast Retailing also plans to reopen its flagship Uniqlo store in Shanghai on Oct. 30, as well as revamp several stores in the Chinese city this year.
The push is part of the clothing retailer's efforts to win over customers across the globe, one casual staple at a time. The Uniqlo owner on Thursday said it is getting its message across to customers globally who value the "comfort and feel" of its products.
Billionaire Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai said that Uniqlo's growing recognition in the U.S. and Europe has attracted customers drawn to its global brand appeal, especially in markets like Southeast Asia, India and Australia. "This is a big chance to realize further growth," Yanai said.
The U.S. and Europe have become increasingly important regions for Fast Retailing as it seeks growth beyond Japan and China to diversify.
The company has set separate annual regional revenue targets of ¥1 trillion, or $6.33 billion, for Uniqlo's operations in North America and Europe in about five years.
The Japanese owner of Uniqlo has also been adding stores in the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia in recent quarters while reducing the number of locations in China.
For the 12 months ended August, net profit rose 25% to 542.52 billion yen, equivalent to $3.43 billion. That beat the estimate of ¥510.7 billion in a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha.
Annual revenue grew 17% to ¥3.963 trillion. Operating profit margin improved to 18.7% from 16.6% the previous year.
For the year that began in September, the company projected revenue to increase 12% to ¥4.450 trillion and net profit to climb 3.2% to ¥560.00 billion.
Uniqlo's North America sales made up 9.2% of the company's total revenue in the latest fiscal year and its Europe business accounted for 13%, compared with 27% for Japan and 18% for the markets of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Fast Retailing said it plans to increase the number of stores by 35 to 3,545 globally in the current fiscal year, mainly by adding Uniqlo stores overseas.
Shares have climbed 31% year to date, thanks to prospects of rising overseas earnings.