Uniqlo owner posts 16.4% jump in H1 profit as China sales recover

(Reuters) -Japan’s Fast Retailing Co, owner of clothing brand Uniqlo, reported on Thursday a 16.4% surge in first-half operating profit, as sales in China recovered and as Southeast Asia, North America and Europe logged strong revenue growth.

The company said operating profit was 220 billion yen ($1.65 billion) in the six months through February, against 189 billion yen a year earlier.

Fast Retailing raised its full-year profit forecast to 360 billion yen from its January forecast of 350 billion yen. That compares with a consensus forecast for annual profit to total 347 billion yen, according to a Refinitiv poll of 14 analysts.

A rare bellwether for global retailers in China, Fast Retailing has around 900 Uniqlo stores in the company’s biggest foreign market, surpassing the number of stores in Japan.

The robust operating profit jump comes after Japan’s biggest retailer logged a 2% fall for the first quarter ending November as COVID-19 restrictions in the world’s second largest economy were a drag on the company’s growth.

($1 = 133.3200 yen)