TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Japan's Fast Retailing Co , operator of the Uniqlo casualwear brand, on Thursday posted a 9.9 percent rise in operating profit in the nine months through May, as its overseas Uniqlo sales showed strong growth.
Operating profit in the September-May period, the first three quarters of the company's fiscal year, grew to 136.3 billion yen ($1.34 billion) from 124.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue jumped 22.8 percent to 1.1 trillion yen, while net profit fell 4.1 percent to 84.8 billion yen.
Asia's biggest fashion retailer kept its annual operating profit forecast for the year ending on Aug. 31 unchanged at 145.5 billion yen, having cut the guidance by 7 percent in April. Making that target would represent a 9.5 percent rise on the year.
($1 = 101.4900 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)