TOKYO -- Fast Retailing, the owner of Japanese clothing seller Uniqlo, on Thursday said its net profit for the six months ended in February rose 27.7% from a year earlier to 195.9 billion yen ($1.28 billion), buoyed by its operations in Europe and North America. The company upgraded its full-year profit outlook for the fiscal year ending August 2024 to 320 billion yen, up 8% from the previous year. It previously estimated the annual figure at 310 million yen. Sales are projected to rise by 9.5% to 3.03 trillion yen.