Toys "R" Us Japan Sees Record Profit

Toys "R" Us Japan, Japan's largest toy retailer, said on Monday it expects net profit to grow 8.8% to a record 4.5 billion yen ($33.89 million) for the current business year to January 2003.

Last year, Toys "R" Us Japan, owned 47.7% by U.S. toy giant Toys "R" Us, posted an 8.6% rise in parent--only net profit to 4.14 billion yen on sales of 175 billion yen.

Toys "R" Us Japan, which has 120 stores in Japan, said in a press release that despite its positive outlook, the prospects for the Japanese economy and the retail market remain grim.

The company has rapidly become Japan's largest toy store chain by offering low-price toys at its mammoth stores, outperforming other retailers weakened by Japan's decade-long economic slump.

It is also one of the few foreign retailers to have effectively made the transition to the Japanese market.

Toys "R" Us Japan said it expects sales growth to continue to slow, forecasting a 6.7% rise this year to 187 billion yen.

It also said it plans to buy back up to 2.5 billion yen or 700,000 of its own common shares, representing about two percent of shares outstanding in the company.