Chairman, president and CEO Tadashi Yanai frames the strategy simply: “We are confident that we can fundamentally transform the very concept of clothing on a global scale and spark a movement that establishes LifeWear as a new world standard. We aim to make everyone’s life better by transcending the conventional boundaries of apparel,” he says at the FY2025 results briefing.
For FY2025 ended Aug 31, consolidated revenue rose 9.6% y-o-y to JPY3.4005 trillion ($28.58 billion), and earnings climbed 16.4% y-o-y to JPY433 billion, all reaching record highs. Finance income was JPY86.3 billion, lifting profit before tax by 16.8% to JPY650.5 billion. The group proposed a full-year dividend of JPY500 per share for FY2025, up JPY100, comprising an interim JPY240 and a final JPY260.
With a market capitalisation of roughly JPY17 trillion as of Nov 17, Fast Retailing ranks among the most valuable fashion companies worldwide. Yanai’s 16.78% stake gives him a net worth of US$55.4 billion ($72 billion), making him one of Japan’s richest individuals.
Uniqlo, derived from “unique clothing”, is known for affordability, quality and inclusivity. Since the first store opened in Hiroshima in 1984, the brand has expanded to 2,519 outlets worldwide as of Aug 31, with 794 in Japan and 1,725 overseas.
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The outperformance was due to the growth seen across all the group’s segments. Uniqlo Japan revenue rose 10.1% y-o-y at JPY1.0260 trillion and business profit rose 17.5% to JPY181.3 billion, helped by disciplined discounting and an improved selling, general and administrative expenses to revenue ratio.
Uniqlo International reached a new high with an 11.6% y-o-y increase in revenue to JPY1.91 trillion and a business profit of JPY305.3 billion, 10.6% higher than the previous year. GU’s revenue rose 3.6% to JPY330.7 billion, but business profit fell 12.6% to JPY28.3 billion amid higher personnel costs and the US flagship ramp-up. Global Brands’ revenue (revenue from the other brands, excluding Uniqlo and GU) declined 5.3% to JPY131.5 billion, but swung to JPY2.6 billion in business profit, with restructuring charges weighing on operating profit.
For FY2026, Fast Retailing guides revenue to gain about 10.3% y-o-y to JPY3.75 trillion and earnings to gain 0.5% y-o-y to JPY435 billion, with a projected dividend of JPY520.
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“Ever since our founding, Fast Retailing has conducted business based on our chosen mission to create a better society through clothing… We call this ‘the democratisation of clothing,’” he says, pointing to LifeWear as the product embodiment — “the ultimate everyday clothing… affordable for people worldwide and [that] serves as components that can be freely mixed and matched.”
For Yanai, Uniqlo and the rest of the brands under the parent company are not “fast fashion” and are instead quality products made to last. “Uniqlo [products] are durable and can last for many years,” says Yanai during an interview with The Edge Singapore at the brand’s LifeWear day during the New York Fashion Week in September.
“We are also committed to creating LifeWear in order to help build a sustainable society. Our aim is to create high-quality clothing that lasts a long time, has a lower impact on the planet, is made in healthy and safe working environments, and ultimately can be recycled or reused,” says the group in its results release.
Growth measures
The operating model stays sharply focused on strengthening product-market fit, maintaining price discipline and elevating store quality to protect margins in an inflationary climate. Management anticipates “a business profit margin of approximately 15% in North America” despite US tariff pressures, driven by branding, selective price adjustments, reduced discounting and tight cost control.
Meanwhile, the group plans to continue “the opening of high-quality stores” worldwide and targets 3,594 outlets by the end of August 2026 — 794 Uniqlo Japan, including franchise; 489 GU; and 546 global brands. The group has a total of 3,570 stores as of Aug 31.
Yanai’s approach keeps the brand resilient, constantly refining long-life basics and innovating in fabric and function. “We have steadily increased the level of perfection in our clothing each year by shedding any superfluous elements and creating clothes that not only offer ultimate simplicity, quality and a high degree of functionality and durability, but are also well designed and comfortable,” he says, pointing to LifeWear items like HeatTech and Ultra Light Down as milestones that “greatly impacted people’s everyday lives.”
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Both HeatTech and Ultra Light Down are Uniqlo textile innovations developed with Toray Industries, created specifically for winter wear. HeatTech is a thermal fabric that generates warmth from the body’s moisture, while Ultra Light Down is a lightweight, compressible outerwear that provides warmth without the bulk. Uniqlo also brings other summer fabric innovations, like Airism, made from ultra-thin fibres for a cool, comfortable feel.
Uniqlo and its LifeWear range are harnessing data and direct channels to grow. Yanai notes Uniqlo’s “shopping app boasts 180 million members worldwide, and our online sites are accessed over five billion times a year”, feeding real-time product and supply-chain decisions and deepening customer feedback loops.
This affinity for “today’s classics” is deliberate. Addressing whether Uniqlo seeks to move further into fashion, Yanai says: “Fashion brands tend to believe that fashion is everything, but everyone you are dressed in basic clothing… Sprinkled with a little bit of fashion now, and that’s the best for us… That’s what we wanted to deliver — fashion and elevation.”
In contrast to the equally renowned apparel companies, Fast Retailing is very clear about its focus: selling easily accessible quality clothing. “We aim to continue to open new high-quality stores and enhance our product development and branding at Uniqlo International as the growth pillar of the Fast Retailing Group,” says the group in its results release.
Rosy but risky outlook
Fast Retailing’s FY2026 guidance points to another year of high-single to low-double-digit top-line growth and disciplined margin management. Management expects Uniqlo International to drive growth once more across North America, Europe and South and Southeast Asia, with Greater China returning to growth as reforms take effect. Uniqlo Japan is expected to post slightly higher revenue and steady business profit despite a weaker yen, alongside rising labour and distribution costs. The projected increase in dividends to JPY520 also signals confidence in cash generation.
For Yanai, Singapore is also an important market for Uniqlo, as he notes the high per capita income within the region. Locally, Uniqlo partners with Wing Tai for its distribution and expansion. Uniqlo opened in Singapore in April 2009 and now has 29 stores nationwide.
Yanai warns of a challenging global economy. When asked about how the group will position itself amid tariff implementations, he says: “I have no idea, because this is a real issue. I hope that this situation will be rid of. This is totally unacceptable.”
While Yanai admits that this is his one-sided perspective, Yanai is aware that the business has to go on. “It is not possible to move to the next stage simply by extending past practices. Instead of clinging to the status quo, we need to constantly adapt, update or change everything we do and proactively embark on new challenges,” he says. “These periods of entrapment and dampened hopes are the perfect time to create something new.”
On operating risks, the company is transparent. GU’s profit contraction in FY2025 reflected wage inflation and the cost of opening its US flagship, as well as a lack of mass-trend “hit” items — issues management plans to address in FY2026 through product and cost discipline. US tariffs on apparel also pose difficulties for Uniqlo USA. However, the group offset higher import costs in 4QFY2025 with surgical price reviews, lower discounting and stronger cost controls, and still lifted both revenue and profit.
Still, the group intends to leverage technology and position it as an enabler rather than a replacement. “We utilise customer-related information and cutting-edge technologies to offer meaningful clothing that people need and can enjoy, and to create completely new value in the clothing arena,” he says.
Strategically, the company’s long-term goal is unchanged. “By realising the idea of the worldwide democratisation of clothing, we aim to make everyone’s life better by transcending the conventional boundaries of apparel,” says Yanai.
LifeWear stands as Fast Retailing’s defining contribution: a line of durable, practical clothing that improves with every advance in materials and design, reaching customers through a growing network of high-quality stores and streamlined online platforms.
