Fast Retailing Co. Chairman Tadashi Yanai caved in to reality and scrapped his 8-year-old target for the Uniqlo casual-wear owner to hit ¥5 trillion ($48 billion) in annual sales by fiscal year 2020.
The billionaire, who wants to make Fast Retailing the world's largest seller of clothing, on Thursday slashed that revenue goal for the fiscal period ending August 2021 by 40 percent as the company reported annual sales and net income forecasts that missed estimates.
The clothing retailer has struggled with weak demand in Japan, the negative impact of a stronger yen on overseas sales, and rising competition from e-commerce operators. Yanai said Fast Retailing will respond by modernizing its distribution systems to shorten delivery times for online shoppers.