Uniqlo Europe — a UK-registered company — has filed its results for the year to the end of August 2024 and they showed its turnover jumping 30% to €1.696 billion, helped by younger consumers tapping into trending items.
Uniqlo
As well as turnover increasing, there was good news on profits with operating profit before one-offs up 50% to €283 million. The company said that the gross profit margin was “maintained at a fairly stable level with positive growth of €268 million”. And net profit for the year jumped from €140.8 million to €222.9 million.
This all came as the number of stores the company operated across the continent rose by 10% to 77 with the number of markets it’s e-commerce team delivers to remaining flat at 26.
That may not seem like a lot of stores for a giant company that has been in Europe for several decades. But the company has rolled out its new stores quite slowly and steadily and its focus on large-format flagships has also meant that a slow approach makes good commercial sense.
The company said the sales increase came as European customers embraced Uniqlo Life Wear products. And of course, those new stores had an impact as well with the first Uniqlo store in Luxembourg opening in October 2023. A reopened flagship in Opera, Paris also helped. Other recent additions to its store portfolio include Edinburgh in Scotland and Rome in Italy, both located in historic buildings with distinctive architecture.
Importantly as well, as mentioned earlier, the company said there was a significant increase among a younger customer base who’ve been enthusiastic about items like the mini-round shoulder bag, bra-top and pleated trousers that went viral during the summer.
