Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing has said that full year profits are likely to be lower than previously thought.

Shares at the Japanese retailer dropped 6.5% at the open of trading in Tokyo after it confirmed that sales in its home market were lower than expected.

The group’s international operations are performing well, opening new stores in Berlin and China recently and plans to open its debut Australian store in the next few weeks. It will also open up to five new stores in the US by the end of September. However, in its home market, trading was impacted by an increase in consumption tax, which went up from 5% to 8% at the start of April.