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(Sharecast News) - Shares in Fast Retailing fell on Friday, despite the Japanese owner of Uniqlo boosting guidance on the back of a bumper third quarter.
Posting numbers after the bell on Thursday, the fashion group said revenues in the three months to May end jumped 22% to Y1.01trn, while net profits were 39% stronger at Y146.7bn. The retailer said trading had been strong across the board, but especially overseas, including an ongoing recovery in mainland China.
The better-than-expected outcome prompted Fast Retailing to boost guidance for the full year. It now anticipates operating profits in the year to August end to come in around Y730bn, up from its previous guidance for Y700bn.
However, it also flagged a likely weaker performance in its domestic market in June, due to tough comparatives and the weak yen adding to the cost of sales.
It also acknowledged that the heatwave in Europe had weighed on sales, after some stores were forced to change its opening hours in response to the soaring temperatures. Many shoppers also opted to stay home.
Although all stores were now open as normal, Takeshi Okazaki, chief financial officer, said: "European cities' cooling systems were not designed with this level of heat in mind, so it became an extremely dangerous situation temporarily. During this time we had stores that couldn't operate. We could have perhaps sold more under more normal circumstances."
As at noon BST, the stock had shed 4%.
Fast Retailing has around 2,500 Uniqlo stores, of which around 785 are in Japan.
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