AFP – Shares in the owner of Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo fell almost seven per cent yesterday after the company reported a weak quarterly performance in China.
China “reported a decline in revenue and considerable drop in profits” in the three months to November 30, Fast Retailing said as it reported a 22-per-cent rise in overall net income.
This was “after failing to compile sufficient product mixes (in China) suited to warm winter weather or develop a sufficiently detailed response to the minute needs of individual regions” it added.
The firm’s operations in China could also suffer further after Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai told the BBC in November that Uniqlo did not use cotton from the Xinjiang region.
Fast Retailing’s Finance Chief Takeshi Okazaki told reporters on Thursday that it did not detect any impact on its sales from this in the last quarter.
“But we will keep a close eye on how this situation will develop,” he said.
Fast Retailing shares were down 6.7 per cent at JY48,560 in Tokyo afternoon trade, having fallen as much as 7.8 per cent earlier.
