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Fast Retailing shares fell sharply on Thursday after its flagship Uniqlo Japan business reported weaker same-store sales for August, as cooler temperatures and unfavorable weather reduced demand for summer clothing.
Shares of Fast Retailing (TYO:9983), the owner of Uniqlo, dropped 3.4% to 68,030 yen, touching their lowest level since April 9. The stock underperformed the broader Nikkei 225, which was trading around 0.2% higher.
Uniqlo Japan said same-store sales, including online transactions, declined 1.3% year over year in August, reversing a 4.3% increase recorded in July. Total sales including online purchases fell 2.2%, compared with a 5.0% gain a month earlier.
Fast Retailing attributed the weaker performance to lower temperatures and unfavorable weather, which weighed on customer demand for seasonal summer products.
Customer traffic also declined significantly. The number of customers at same stores, including online sales, dropped 9.1% from a year earlier. However, average spending per customer increased 8.6%.
Across all stores, customer numbers fell 10.2% year over year, while the average purchase per customer climbed 8.9%, partially offsetting the decline in traffic.
The August figures marked a reversal from July, when Uniqlo Japan benefited from strong demand for newly launched products and summer clothing as temperatures remained elevated from the middle of the month.
Fast Retailing said one Uniqlo store opened and another closed during August. Four locations temporarily closed for more than a week were excluded from the same-store calculation. These included three stores in Kumamoto Prefecture affected by the July 28 earthquake and one in Chiba Prefecture impacted by heavy rainfall on August 13.
Despite the August slowdown, Uniqlo Japan’s broader sales trend remained positive. For the year through August, same-store sales including online purchases increased 5.1%, while total sales rose 5.5%.
The year-to-date gains suggest August’s weather-driven decline has so far had a limited effect on Uniqlo Japan’s overall sales performance.
