Clothing brand Uniqlo's Japanese owner said Thursday its China operation would report a large decline in profit in the current fiscal year owing to the country's COVID-19 restrictions.
Fast Retailing is a bellwether for how major global retailers are being impacted by COVID-related shutdowns in China, one of the biggest growth markets for many Western brands.
China is Fast Retailing's biggest foreign market, with 863 stores on the mainland and almost 90 outlets in Shanghai — where stringent lockdown measures, introduced in late March, remain in place to contain the country's worst outbreak of the pandemic.