Ryui Masa'S Goal Has Not Been Achieved, And UNIQLO Has Been Very Sad Recently.

The global epidemic is spreading, and fast fashion brands have been hit hard. UNIQLO has not been spared.

In April 9th, 06288.HK, the parent company of UNIQLO, released its interim results. In the 6 months ending February 2020, the group's revenues and profits declined: revenue of 12085 billion yen (about 78 billion 400 million yuan), a decrease of 4.7% compared to the same period last year, and net profit of 100 billion 500 million yen (6 billion 500 million yuan), down 11.9% from the same period last year. According to Xun, revenues from Korea and greater China declined significantly due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic.

UNIQLO focuses on the situation in the Chinese market. Before the end of January 2020, the sale of UNIQLO in mainland China remained strong, and earnings fell sharply thereafter. When the situation was the most severe in February, the 395 shops on the mainland were temporarily closed, and gradually recovered from March.

The Greater China region is the second largest market with fast sales, and its revenue accounts for about 22.4% of total revenue, only 38.4% of Japan's domestic market.

In Japan, UNIQLO has mixed feelings. Revenue fell 5.7% to 463 billion 500 million yen compared with the same period. The net sales volume of same store decreased by 4.6% compared with the same period in the warm winter weather, but operating profit increased by 5.7% compared to the same period last year, especially online store sales increased by 8.3% over the same period. Since late February, Japan's UNIQLO income has declined significantly compared with the same period last year.

UNIQLO performed poorly, and sister brand GU (excellent) suddenly rose. The brand expanded business with the Japanese market as the center. During the reporting period, the profit and operating profit achieved a significant increase of over 10%.

As the introduction of knitted cardigan and knitted sets caught the trend of the public, the net sales of GU grew by 3.8% year-on-year.

Ryui Masa, 71, founder of UNIQLO, has repeatedly mentioned the vision of making the brand go all over the world. In 2011, he set ambitious goals. By 2020, XXX group will become the world's largest garment manufacturer and retailer, with a net sales of 5 billion yen and a profit of 1 trillion yen.

The promised time node has arrived, and a sudden outbreak has become a "stumbling block". In the Greater China region, there has just been signs of recovery, and the Southeast Asian market has fallen into a closed shop. As of April 7, 2020, 412 stores in UNIQLO were still temporarily closed. Fast Retailing said that at the present stage, it is impossible to reasonably estimate the end of each country's epidemic situation. "Whether the global epidemic situation can be controlled will affect the prospects of performance".

Fortunately, there is food in hand. According to the financial report, as at the end of February 2020, the cash and cash equivalent items of fast selling were 11843 billion yen, and short-term financial liabilities were only 159 billion yen.

The development of UNIQLO began in the last century, when the Japanese economy was in a great recession. In a depressed environment, Ryui Masa found parity and stood up against the trend.

Similar macro background, different body size. In the global trend of fast fashion down, can UNIQLO continue the miracle?

In the open letter of April 6th, in the words of the company's future, Ryui Masa firmly believed that he could overcome the test. "The global difficult times will continue, but when it is over, the bright future will be ahead."