TOKYO | Mon Oct 4, 2010 - Fast Retailing (9983.T) said sales at its Uniqlo budget fashion chain plunged 24.7 percent in September from a year earlier, the biggest fall in more than 7-½ years, as a severe heatwave battered sales of autumn clothing like long-sleeved shirts.

Photo : Reuters

A 31.6 percent jump in same-store sales, or sales at outlets open at least 13 months, in September 2009 also made for a tough year-to-year comparison.

Uniqlo was once enjoying seemingly unstoppable gains in sales but in July cut its annual outlook for the first time in three years, as growth came to a screeching halt amid a lack of hit products like last year's heat-retaining underwear.

The latest monthly decline was the biggest since February 2003, when it logged a 25.8 percent drop.

Prior to the announcement, shares of Fast Retailing ended up 0.3 percent at 11,770 yen, outperforming a 0.3 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225.

(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)