Fast Retailing closes FY2026 with record profit as Uniqlo Japan tops ¥1 trillion and international sales jump 26%

Fast Retailing said revenue for the year to August 31, 2026 rose 16.6% year on year to ¥3.9633 trillion, with business profit up 30.4% to ¥718.4 billion and net profit attributable to owners up 25.3% to ¥542.5 billion, according to the company's October 8 full-year results summary — a result it described as a record for the fifth consecutive year.

Inside that total, Uniqlo's Japan business — the country's largest single clothing-retail operation — posted revenue of ¥1.0848 trillion, up 5.7%, with business profit up 8.1% to ¥196.0 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.1% for the year, the company said, even as gross margin slipped 0.1 point; a 0.4-point improvement in the ratio of selling, general and administrative expenses to sales, to 32.6%, carried the segment's profit growth above its revenue growth.

Growth is far steeper outside Japan. Uniqlo International's revenue rose 26.2% to ¥2.4111 trillion and its business profit climbed 44.1% to ¥439.8 billion, Fast Retailing said, with every region posting double-digit gains: Greater China revenue up 11.3% to ¥724.0 billion (mainland China alone, in local-currency terms, up roughly 3% on revenue and about 18% on profit), South Korea/Southeast Asia/India/Australia up 30.7% to ¥809.4 billion, North America up 34.6% to ¥364.9 billion, and Europe up 38.7% to ¥512.6 billion. North America and Europe's combined sales overtook Greater China's for the first time, the company said.

GU and Global Brands

GU, Fast Retailing's second apparel chain, added 1.8% to revenue (¥336.7 billion) and 11.0% to business profit (¥31.5 billion). Global Brands — Theory, PLST, Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam — posted a 2.3% revenue decline to ¥128.5 billion, with business profit up 6.8% to ¥2.8 billion; the company attributed the softness to Theory, where revenue fell even as local-currency profit held roughly flat, and to Comptoir des Cotonniers/Princesse tam.tam, whose store count fell from 98 to 77 over the year, while PLST posted higher revenue and profit.

Dividend and FY2027 guidance

Fast Retailing lifted its dividend to a scheduled ¥850 per share for the year, up ¥350, split between a ¥320 interim payment already made and a planned ¥530 year-end payment. For the year to August 2027 it guided to revenue of ¥4.45 trillion (+12.3%), business profit of ¥830.0 billion (+15.5%) and net profit of ¥560.0 billion (+3.2%), with the dividend set to rise a further ¥50 to ¥900. By segment, it expects Uniqlo Japan to grow revenue on a steady business profit with a slightly lower gross margin, Uniqlo International to post double-digit growth in both revenue and profit, and GU and Global Brands to grow both. The company plans to end August 2027 with 3,545 stores group-wide, including 782 Uniqlo Japan stores counting franchises.

For a results season just getting underway at Japan's listed retailers — Takashimaya reports its first half on October 15, with J.Front Retailing and H2O Retailing to follow — Fast Retailing's numbers set an early benchmark, and the split inside them matters more than the headline growth rate. Uniqlo Japan's domestic business is still growing, but on same-store gains in the mid-single digits rather than new floor space, and its profit growth outpacing revenue growth came from cost discipline rather than pricing power. Overseas is a different business: Europe and North America, still smaller markets for Uniqlo than China, are now growing fastest and together outsell Greater China, underlining how much of the growth funding Fast Retailing's Japan investment and rising dividend now sits outside Japan.

The open question for FY2027 is whether Uniqlo Japan's guided steady profit on a slightly thinner margin holds if cost pressure or a milder autumn dents its same-store pace, given how much of this year's segment profit growth already came from trimming expenses rather than the top line.