A first for Fast Retailing. North America and Europe combined now bring in more revenue than Greater China: ¥877.6 billion against ¥724 billion, according to figures reported by Reuters on 8 October.
China is still a heavyweight. Nearly 900 Uniqlo stores, and results that grew in local currency according to FashionUnited. It is simply no longer the group’s main growth engine outside Japan.
A record year, above expectations
For the year ended 31 August 2026, revenue rose 16.6% to ¥3.96 trillion. Operating profit climbed 31.7% to ¥743.1 billion, a fifth consecutive annual record. That beat both the company’s own forecast (¥730 billion) and the ¥726.45 billion average of 16 analysts polled by LSEG.
Uniqlo International did most of the work: ¥2.41 trillion in revenue (+26.2%) and ¥448.1 billion in operating profit (+44.9%). Uniqlo Japan grew more slowly, to ¥1.08 trillion (+5.7%). GU barely moved, at ¥336.7 billion (+1.8%), short of internal targets.
What comes next
For the year ending August 2027, the group targets ¥4.45 trillion in revenue (+12.3%) and ¥830 billion in profit. The planned dividend rises to ¥900 per share.
Founder and president Tadashi Yanai repeated his goal of ¥10 trillion in annual sales, adding roughly ¥500 billion a year. “When you say 500 billion yen, in our clothing retail sector, that’s a massive company,” he said, as quoted by Reuters. In Japan, management warned that the weak yen is pushing up import costs and could lead to price increases.
For landlords and shopping centres in Europe and North America, this is worth watching closely: much of the brand’s growth now happens on their turf.