Uniqlo owner's cash pile won't wear well with shareholders

Hong Kong

FAST Retailing is heating up. First-quarter figures offer fresh confirmation of the turnaround at the Japanese retailer behind Uniqlo - and show that all those reasonably priced puffer jackets and lightweight sweaters have generated a cash pile that now exceeds US$7 billion. If Fast Retailing does not share more of the wealth, troublemakers could emerge, however.

There was a lot to like in Thursday's results. Crucially, problems have been ironed out at Uniqlo International, which now outsells its Japanese counterpart and is almost as profitable: operating margins, at 18.1 per cent, are now just 3 percentage points below Uniqlo Japan.