Even as it was reporting a record net profit of 93.5 billion yen ($816 million) for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 that ended Nov. 30, Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing warned that uncertainty related to the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic could mean trouble across southeast Asia and around the world.
The Japanese casualwear maker’s Q1 net profit was up 33% from the same time a year earlier. Its consolidated sales for the quarter was 627.3 billion yen (almost $5.5 billion), up 1.2% from 2020 levels and “significantly above expected levels.”
Investors had been worried that Fast Retailing would report declining domestic sales in China due to the pandemic’s continued spread. In addition to Uniqlo, Fast Retailing also owns GU, Theory, PLST, Helmut Lang, Theory Luxe, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princess tam-tam and J Brand. Its overall sales and Uniqlo’s profits in Japan and China fell due to COVID-19 restrictions, the company said.
Uniqlo saw demand for casual clothes jump in Japan as more people worked from home last year. Its AIRism face masks also sold well in the quarter. Chief Financial Officer Takeshi Okazaki said these two segments made the “performance hurdle high” for 2022.
The company saw better-than-expected results in southeast Asia, North America and Europe.
“Our business after the year-end and new year remains good. It is difficult to forecast the future due to omicron, but we believe we can achieve our full-year target,” said Okazaki. The company is also worried about rising raw material prices, surging shipping costs and a weakening yen.
Related: CVS Health Announces Elevated Earnings Outlook Amid Omicron Variant Spread
In other positive earnings news, CVS Health raised its full-year earnings guidance Tuesday (Jan. 11) to reflect the uptick it’s seen in the need for its services, saying it expects shares to range from $5.87 to $5.92, up from the previous projection of $5.50 to $5.61.
The announcement came in an 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before a virtual presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Tuesday.
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