By Rocky Swift
TOKYO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Fast Retailing, owner of global clothing brand Uniqlo, booked its fifth consecutive record annual profit on Thursday, citing strong results in all regions and overcoming effects of a weak yen at home.
Operating profit rose about 32% to 743.13 billion yen ($4.70 billion) in the 12 months ended August 31, from 564.3 billion yen in the prior period, the apparel maker said in a statement. That beat the company's own forecast of 730 billion yen and the 726.45
billion yen average estimate from 16 analysts polled by LSEG.
Fast Retailing forecast operating profit in the year ending August 2027 of 830 billion yen.
The Uniqlo operator has beaten quarterly expectations throughout the year and repeatedly raised its profit guidance.
But management also warned that a weak yen was making conditions more difficult in Japan, where higher import costs were expected to weigh on fourth-quarter results and lead to price increases.
North America and Europe have been highlights for the company's overseas operations in recent periods, providing a counterbalance for sluggish results in mainland China, where consumers remain reluctant to spend.
From one store in Hiroshima in 1984, the group has grown to more than 2,500 Uniqlo locations globally, selling inexpensive fleeces and basic goods made primarily in Asian manufacturing hubs.
Founder Tadashi Yanai, Japan’s richest man, has long said he wants to make Fast Retailing the world’s top clothing retailer, putting the company in competition with Zara owner Inditex and Sweden's H&M.
Fast Retailing is widely seen as a bellwether for consumer sentiment in Japan and China, still its biggest foreign market with nearly 900 Uniqlo shops. Store numbers have levelled off in both markets, reaching saturation levels in Japan while the company is shutting underperforming locations in China and replacing them with newer, larger shops to revive foot traffic.
With online retail eating into the business of standard Uniqlo outlets, Fast Retailing is putting increasing focus on massive, multi-level stores that act as destinations unto themselves.
The format has helped grow the brand in North America and Europe, and Fast Retailing is looking to double the number of so-called flagship stores in Japan to 20 in the next decade, Yanai told the Nikkei newspaper in August.
($1 = 158.1400 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sonali Paul)
