Uniqlo says sales recovery varies across Asian markets

Japanese fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo is seeing a significant rise in sales in Japan despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

But performances varied in different Asian markets.

While the company is suffering abroad, a recent uptick in sales in its home territory – partly boosted by a popular face mask – is likely to see 25-per-cent sales growth for the August quarter. Even so, the firm’s net profit forecast for the entire financial year has been re-estimated downward by a steep 47.7 percent, factoring in expected upcoming impairment costs.

The firm saw a sales decline for the first three quarters of its financial year of 15.2 percent below figures for the same period a year earlier, as well as a net profit decline of 42.9 percent. Multiple outlets were temporarily closed during part of this period due to the outbreak.

While Uniqlo’s performance is expected to continue to improve in both Japan and China, the business is expected to undergo a significant decline of up to 40 percent in its markets in South Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania during the fourth quarter.

A bright spot is Vietnam where trading was strong after the country returned to normal, virus-free, in May.