Gelonghui, January 9 | FAST RETAIL-DRS (06288.HK) announced that the total comprehensive income for the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year (September 1 to November 30, 2024) of Express Sales Co., Ltd. was 895.1 billion yen (up 10.4% from the same period of the previous year), and the total amount of “business profit” reflecting the essence of business operating profit (total profit after deducting sales costs and sales, general and administrative expenses) was 156.9 billion yen (up 11.0% year on year). Significant increases in both revenue and profit were recorded. This is mainly due to the strong sales performance of the UNIQLO (Uniqlo) division in Japan, as well as the continued steady expansion of UNIQLO's business in Southeast Asia, India and Australia, and North America and Europe.
In terms of other income and expenses, exchange gains were recorded in the same period last year, while exchange losses were recorded in the current quarter, which decreased 4.6 billion yen year over year, resulting in a total consolidated operating profit of 157.5 billion yen for the quarter, an increase of 7.4% year on year. Also, the consolidated gross margin was 54.5%, a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. The ratio of sales, general and administrative expenses to revenue improved 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 36.9%. A net increase of 39 billion yen was recorded under financing income and costs. This was due to exchange gains of 25.3 billion yen generated by converting the book value of assets denominated in foreign currency into yen, plus net interest income of 13.7 billion yen. As a result, the Group recorded profit before income tax of 196.6 billion yen (up 21.0% year on year) and profit attributable to parent company owners was 131.9 billion yen (up 22.4% year over year).
