The operator of Japan's casual clothing giant Uniqlo announced on Thursday record annual profits, helped by recession-busting sales and an aggressive overseas expansion.

The company, which aims to be bigger than foreign rivals Gap, Zara and H&M, predicted another strong year as it lures cost-conscious shoppers during the economic slump with a promise of affordable chic.

Fast Retailing, the empire founded by Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai, said its operating profit jumped 24.2 percent in the year to August to a record 108.6 billion yen (1.2 billion dollars).

Revenue soared 16.8 percent to an all-time high 685.0 billion yen, helped by an improved lineup for women and an expansion in its operations across Asia, it said. Net profit rose 14.4 percent to 49.8 billion yen.

Fast Retailing, one of the few Japanese companies to have bucked the global economic downturn, is chasing a seven-fold increase in sales by 2020 and aims to expand its worldwide network to 4000 stores within a decade.

It recently opened a new flagship store in Paris to add to existing stores in New York and London. Uniqlo plans to open a new flagship store in Shanghai early next year, along with its first outlet in Moscow.

The retailer has also brought German luxury fashion designer Jil Sander on board as a design consultant.

For the current business year to August 2010, the group forecast net profit of 62 billion yen, operating profit of 120 billion yen and revenue of 798 billion yen.

The group also owns the New York-originated Theory fashion label and French brand Comptoir des Cotonniers.

Yanai transformed his father's tiny clothing store in southern Hiroshima into one of the world's biggest retailers, making him Japan's richest man, according to Forbes magazine.