* Q1 operating profit up 0.2 pct to 82.7 bln yen, vs 89.8
bln f’cast
* Full-year operating forecast upped to 450 bln yen
TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) – Canon Inc on Wednesday
posted flat quarterly earnings but upped its full-year profit
forecast, as burgeoning demand for higher-end digital cameras
helped offset fewer sales of printers and office equipment.
The company raised its operating forecast for the 12 months
to Dec. 31 to 450 billion yen ($5.55 billion)from a January
prediction of 390 billion yen. That was still slightly below a
consensus expectation for 466 billion yen based on the average
of 23 estimates from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
While other Japanese electronics makers struggle under the
burden of losses in their television units, Canon has remained
profitable by keeping its consumer business focused on digital
imaging, allowing it to tap a burgeoning market for higher end
digital single reflex (DSLR) cameras.
Since the beginning of the year its shares have gained
nearly 10 percent, compared with a 4 percent dip in Sony’s
stock.
Earning about 80 percent of its income overseas, Canon is
also benefiting from a weakening yen, which helps Japanese
exporters by boosting the value of repatriated earnings.
From July through most of February the Japanese currency
traded above 80 yen to the dollar, breaking through 76 yen in
November. That strength prompted many Japanese firms to offer
conservative currency estimates. Since February 22 the yen has
weakened to below 80 yen, going as low as 84 yen in mid-March.
For the quarter ended March 31, the camera and
printer-maker’s operating profit was 82.7 billion yen compared
with 82.5 billion yen in the same quarter of the previous year.
The result was just shy of consensus expectations for an
89.8 billion yen profit, from six analysts surveyed by Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S.
The maker of IXUS and PowerShot cameras, which built its
first camera in 1933, competes against Nikon and Sony.
In printers and other office equipment its main rival is Xerox
Corp.
