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TOKYO, Japan — Fast Retailing Co. cut its full-year profit forecast for the third time in six months as billionaire chairman Tadashi Yanai seeks to win back budget-minded Japanese shoppers with a low-price strategy.
Net income will probably be 45 billion yen ($427 million) for the year ending August 2016, down from the 60 billion yen forecast it gave in April, the company said Thursday. That compared with the 57 billion-yen average estimate of 15 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
Fast Retailing’s forecast cut puts more pressure on Yanai to achieve his goal of 5 trillion yen sales by 2020 and turn Asia’s biggest clothing retailer into a world leader. Amid stagnant consumption in Japan, Yanai has adjusted his pricing strategy with a promise to offer the “lowest possible price.”
By Monami Yui and Grace Huang; editor: K. Oanh Ha and Dave McCombs.
