Uniqlo Owner Raises Guidance After Strong Quarterly Profit

Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo, raised its annual earnings guidance after reporting a sharply higher quarterly profit driven by stronger sales across multiple regions. The Japanese retailer said net profit rose 39% from a year earlier to 146.7 billion yen, or $902.1 million, for the three months ended May. That result beat analysts’ expectations of Y118.9 billion, according to Visible Alpha. Third-quarter revenue increased 22% to Y1.01 trillion. For the fiscal year ending August, Fast Retailing now expects revenue to rise 17% to Y3.970 trillion and net profit to increase 15% to Y500.00 billion, compared with prior guidance of Y3.900 trillion and Y480.00 billion. The company is adding more Uniqlo stores in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia while reducing store counts in China. It targets revenue from North America and Europe of 1 trillion yen each within about five years.