By: Nikkei Asia
TOKYO — The value of Fast Retailing, the Japanese parent of casual clothing chain Uniqlo, reached 10.87 trillion yen ($103 billion) at the end of trading Tuesday, putting it at the top of the global apparel industry in terms of market capitalization.
This marks the first time Fast Retailing topped Zara’s Spanish parent Inditex, which had a market cap of about 81.7 billion euros ($99 billion) at Monday’s close and 80.8 billion euros at the end of Tuesday. The Japanese retailer’s share price has steadily climbed since last August.
Shareholders like Fast Retailing’s focus on Asia, especially China whose economy has recovered quickly from the coronavirus-triggered slump thanks to the government’s containment efforts. The casual wear specialist is also viewed as well positioned to capitalize on the changing habits of consumers, who are more inclined to dress casually as telework spreads.
Fast Retailing operated 2,298 Uniqlo stores around the world in November. Sixty percent of those stores are located in Asia outside of Japan. At 791 locations, China is the second biggest market after Japan, with 815 stores.
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