Japan’s Takashimaya said last Friday its full-year net profit fell 12.4%, despite narrowing its profit decreases as the year progressed.
The department store operator said net profit came in at 20.87 billion yen (US$193 million) for the 12 months ended February 28, while operating profit lifted 3.1% to 34 billion yen. Total sales for Takishimaya dipped 0.6% to 923.61 billion yen, according to the retailer in a press release.
It’s been a tough 12 months for the department store. For the first nine-months of the year net profit fell 18.6%, after it a dropped a whopping 43.6% in the first quarter of 2016.
This latest yearly result, a narrowly of profit slumps, comes as Takashimaya refocuses its efforts. The group said it is hopes to capitalise on urban development strategies this year, using its experience as a trade developer to create new spaces that are a mix between department stores and specialty retailers.
Takashimaya also said its duty-free sales witnessed double-digit growth on last year, thanks sales promotion efforts aimed at international visitors to Japan.
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The department store operator released its guidance for the upcoming fiscal year. Takashimaya said it expects net profit to grow 3% to 21.5 billion yen, for the period ending February 28, 2018. It is predicting a yearly operating profit increase of 2.9% to 35 billion yen, or $311.2 million.
The company expects sales to grow 2.1% for the year, totalling 943 billion yen.
In line with Takashimaya’s woes, it’s been a tough twelve months for Japan’s department stores. Sales fell to their lowest in nearly four decades in 2016.
Department store sales fell 2.9% in 2016 from a year earlier to 5.978 trillion yen ($52.1 billion), sliding below 6 trillion yen for the first time since 1980, according to data released by the Japan Department Stores Association in January.
Sales of clothing were mostly hindered by frugal Japanese consumers, hurt by wage growth, and spending by overseas tourists also slumped, as Chinese tourists ceased making luxury shopping trips to the archipelago nation.