Parent Fast Retailing's sales rise 16.6%
Overseas Uniqlo sales surge 26.2%; gap with Zara remains wide
Fast Retailing, the Japanese company that operates Uniqlo, posted record sales and net profit for its latest fiscal year, driven by strong overseas growth. The results have raised the prospect that the company could overtake H&M to become the world's second-largest apparel retailer by sales.
According to Japanese media reports, Fast Retailing announced Thursday that sales for the fiscal year ending in August 2026 — covering September last year through August this year — reached 3.96 trillion yen ($25.1 billion), up 16.6 percent from the previous year, Yonhap reported. Net profit came to 542.5 billion yen.
Overseas operations drove the growth. Sales at the international Uniqlo division rose 26.2 percent year-on-year to 2.41 trillion yen, accounting for roughly 61 percent of total revenue. While domestic sales in Japan remained largely stagnant, rapid overseas expansion lifted the company's overall performance.
The results are expected to shake up the global apparel retail rankings. Japanese market research firms noted that H&M, currently ranked second, posted sales of around 3.6 trillion yen in its fiscal year ending November 2025 and has since seen declining revenue, suggesting Fast Retailing may have surpassed it.
The gap with the world's top apparel retailer remains substantial. Inditex, the Spanish company behind Zara, recorded sales exceeding 60 trillion won ($44.8 billion), far outpacing Fast Retailing.
Fast Retailing Chairman Tadashi Yanai said at a news conference Thursday that the company aims to increase sales by 500 billion yen each year going forward.
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
