Uniqlo owner to hike prices in sign of shift for Japan

Clothes of the collaborative label +J from Uniqlo's new tie-up with German designer Jil Sander, are displayed at the retailer's press room in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 6, 2020.TOKYO - Clothing retailer Uniqlo will have to raise prices of some products due to higher costs for raw materials and shipping, its owner said on Thursday , becoming a high-profile example of Japanese firms throwing off a decades-old deflationary trend.

"We have reached a point where we have no choice but to raise the prices of some products," Chief Financial Officer Takeshi Okazaki told reporters in Tokyo, citing weakness in the yen that is driving up the cost of raw materials and shipping.Japanese firms' reluctance to raise prices - and wages - has long been a headache for policymakers who want to see a virtuous spending cycle that drives economic growth as the country ages and the population declines.

"Our basic policy is to avoid raising prices as much as possible, recognising that our customers have strict cost expectations," he said.Operating profit rose 5.6 per cent to 119.4 billion yen in the three months ended Nov 30. That beat the market's consensus of 102.6 billion yen, according to the average of analysts' forecasts from Refinitiv.

The company said in October it expects a gradual recovery to pre-pandemic levels as Covid-19 vaccinations progress and as it makes further inroads in the Chinese market.

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