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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> World Economy -> 
Fast Retailing likely hit by Korea boycott
    2019-10-10  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

A SOUTH KOREAN boycott of Japanese goods is seen dragging down sales at Fast Retailing Co.’s Uniqlo stores, denting otherwise strong financial results due to be announced today by Asia’s biggest fashion group, analysts said.

But another focus will be on succession plans after founder Tadashi Yanai, Japan’s richest person according to Forbes, turned 70 earlier this year.

Analysts on average expect operating profit of 258.6 billion yen (US$2.41 billion) for the year ended August, up 9.5 percent from a year prior, Thomson Reuters data showed. They see a 14 percent rise in the current year, helped by strength in China and new markets.

Some have been marking down forecasts since Uniqlo and other Japanese businesses were targeted by South Korean boycotts amid a diplomatic spat, a reminder of risks that come with overseas expansion. The company opened its first store in India last week and is also expanding in markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

Sales in South Korea, which account for around 8 percent of sales in Fast Retailing’s flagship Uniqlo business, fell 40 percent year on year in July and more in August, the Nikkei reported.

J.P. Morgan analyst Dairo Murata recently lowered his Fast Retailing earnings forecast for the current year by 4.6 percent and cut his price target on the shares to 68,000 yen from 70,000 yen.

“We foresee a double-digit decline in sales and a roughly 40 percent fall in operating profit for the South Korea business,” Murata said in a client note, adding that the yen’s appreciation against China’s yuan was another near-term negative factor.

Fast Retailing’s biggest growth market in recent years has been China, where it opened its first Uniqlo store in 2002 and now has over 700 locations. The company has said it expects greater China revenue to grow to 1 trillion yen in fiscal 2022. (SD-Agencies)

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