By Rocky Swift
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Fast Retailing, owner of global clothing brand Uniqlo, booked on Thursday its fourth consecutive year of record profit, citing strong domestic sales and robust results in the United States that compensated for higher tariffs.
Revenue in Japan was boosted by buoyant sales to tourists, while the international segment posted record performance, with North America revenue and business profit growing 24.5% and 35.1%, respectively, for the fiscal year ended August 2025.
But its Greater China market continued to struggle, with declines in sales and profits as consumer appetite stayed subdued amid a sluggish economy and weak consumer confidence.
When its Chinese operations suffered during strict COVID-19 curbs, Fast Retailing increased focus on markets in North America and Europe, which appears to have paid off.
The casual wear giant, known for its fleece jackets and inexpensive basics, said operating profit jumped about 13% to 564.3 billion yen ($3.69 billion) in the 12 months through August, from 500.9 billion yen in the prior period.
That beat its own forecast of 545 billion yen and an average estimate of 546 billion yen from 16 analysts polled by LSEG.
Fast Retailing forecast operating profit in the year through August 2026 would rise further, to 610 billion yen.
From one store in Hiroshima in western Japan 41 years ago, Uniqlo has grown to more than 2,500 locations across the world, selling inexpensive fleeces and cotton shirts made primarily in China and other Asian manufacturing hubs.
With the economy cooling in China, the company’s biggest overseas consumer market with some 900 Uniqlo stores on the mainland, Fast Retailing has increasingly looked to North America and Europe for growth.
The company said it plans to open flagship stores in locations such as Frankfurt, Warsaw, Chicago, and San Francisco in fiscal 2026.
But its global strategy has been complicated by tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Fast Retailing warned in July that the tariffs would start to have a significant impact on its operations in the market later in the year. Even so, price increases and cost-cutting helped the company increase U.S. sales and profit for the year.
Tokyo and Washington later inked a deal to set a 15% tariff on most Japanese imports, less than the 25% initially imposed.
It is uncertain how that affects Uniqlo goods sold in the United States, which are primarily produced in South and Southeast Asia.
Fast Retailing tends to benefit both at home and abroad from a weak yen, which is now trading at the lowest since February against the dollar and a record low versus the euro.
A tourism boom in Japan has led to a surge in duty-free shopping at domestic stores, while revenue from Western markets gets an added boost when translated back into yen.
Founder Tadashi Yanai, Japan’s richest man, has long aimed to make his firm the world’s biggest fashion retailer, with Zara owner Inditex and H&M standing in the way.
In recent years, the company has faced fierce price competition from Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu.
($1=152.9600 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Kim Coghill and Clarence Fernandez)
