Uniqlo owner may see record 25% profit hike

STORY: Japan clothing brand Uniqlo’s parent company is expected to post a 25 percent jump in profit – a company record for the third quarter, and the focus will be whether its retail business in China is back on track, a possible indicator of that country’s recovery.

Refinitiv analysts forecast that Fast Retailing’s operating profit in the three months through May likely reached more than $730 million.

That would be up from around $590 million last year.

The company is set to announce its earnings on Thursday.

Uniqlo, known for its fleece jackets and inexpensive basics, has more than 900 outlets in China – outnumbering that in Japan.

But China imposed one of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the world, hammering the retail market there and forcing the company to shift focus on its North American and European operations during that time.

Fast Retailing earlier said that business in China started to turn around in January, recording sharp increases in sales and profit from the region in the second quarter.

The retail giant’s shares have soared 30 percent so far this year, outpacing the wider Nikkei index for Tokyo's stock market, which is up by only 23 percent this year.