Uniqlo operator predicts 1 tn yen in sales next year

The operator of Japan's cheap-chic clothing giant Uniqlo looks set to push its revenue past the 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) threshold next year, the company said Thursday. For the year to August 2013, the company, Fast Retailing, is forecasting a 14 percent growth in revenue to 1.056 trillion yen. It is also predicting an 18 percent gain in net profit to 84.5 billion yen, with a rise in operating profit of about 14 percent to 143.5 billion yen. Fast Retailing has expanded its business abroad, and chief executive Tadashi Yanai has said sales at Uniqlo's overseas operations will exceed those domestically by fiscal 2015. Yanai has said his company is not considering slowing the pace of store openings in China despite the recent anti-Japanese rallies over territorial issues. He also said there is absolutely no change in the company's view of the Chinese market, and it will continue positioning China as a production base. "If possible, we would like to open 100 stores in China annually and we have prospects to open 80 stores this year," Yanai said last month. For the business year that ended in August, the company generated a net profit of 71.6 billion yen, up 32 percent on year, while revenue shot up more than 13 percent to 928.6 billion yen. Operating profit climbed 8.7 percent to 126.4 billion yen. -- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story. --