Retail holding company Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said Thursday it would slash prices of its brands in Japan.
The company said that it will cut prices by up to 9% at its GU and Uniqlo stores to help pandemic-hit customers.
Apart from the discounts, Fast Retailing said it would adjust its price tags and displays to reflect figures that include taxes. The company said this would spare customers the trouble of calculating the actual amount paid for products.
Fast Retailing's stock in Japan dipped 3.91% Thursday, dragging down the Nikkei index. Other notable dips during the day were SoftBank Group's 5.5% drop and Tokyo Electron's 2.13% loss.
Since the pandemic, Fast Retailer has been struggling. Like other retailers, the company was facing a steep drop in demand for its fashion products as people that were forced to stay at home had no place to wear new outfits.
The drop in demand and the forced closures of some of its manufacturing facilities weighed heavily on Fast Retailer's earnings. The company said it understands customers are facing "unprecedented difficulties because of the coronavirus pandemic."
Last month, the company overtook Zara's Spanish parent Inditex to become the world's most valuable retailer. At its peak in February, Fast Retailer's market capitalization hit $103 billion, overtaking Inditex's $99 billion valuation.
The recent rise in stock price was attributed to its strong 2020 fiscal year performance and investors were particularly impressed with its focus on growing markets such as China.
In terms of revenue over the latest fiscal year, Fast Retailing ranked third, generating $18.9 billion for its 2020 fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2020. It fell behind H&M Group with $22.5 billion for its last fiscal year ended January and Inditex with $34.1 billion for its fiscal year ended November.
