- Mortgage Applications Up as Rates Continue to Decrease
- Wal-Mart Targets Video Games with Latest Price Cuts
- 'Black Swan' Shuns Public Life Because of Bernanke
- Dubai World To Meet with Creditors Next Week
- FHA to Toughen Mortgage Rules in Lenders Crackdown
- Obama to Send More Troops; Seeks Afghanistan Exit
- Blog: Will Whitacre Bring Better Results to GM?
- Geeks Replacing Swashbucklers on Wall Street
- Google Offers Publishers Limit on Free News Access
- Whitacre Will Change GM, But Will He Bring Better Results?
- Chipmaker Sees Options Upside After a Strong Sector Report
- Treasury Assistance Comes at High Price For GM
- Unemployment to Peak at 10.5%: Moody's Economist
- 8 Stocks to Gain on Obama's Afghan Plan: Analysts
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
MOST SHARED
- Case Closed but Woods Scrutiny Continues
- Kohlberg Kravis Bidding for Morgan Stanley's CICC Stake
- UK Economy Turned, Inflation to Spike: BoE Economist
- Cisco Has 84% of Tandberg, Won't Extend Bid
- Australia Regulator Opposes Caltex-Exxon Deal
- Australia Parliament Rejects Carbon Trade Laws
- Toyota Takes Lead Position in Canada in November
Text Size 
Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon posted a 12 percent fall in quarterly profit due to sluggish copier demand and the stronger yen, but kept its forecast for a ninth straight year of earnings growth.
Canon has enjoyed brisk demand for high-end cameras but profitability at its office equipment operations has come under pressure with businesses putting off buying or replacing copiers as the global economy slows.
The company, which competes with Xerox [XRX
Loading...
()
] , Ricoh and Konica Minolta Holdings in printers and copiers, is also grappling with the soaring cost of raw materials and the profit-slicing impact of a stronger yen.
"We expect the yen to remain strong and for high raw materials and fuel prices to continue. The operating environment is tougher than we had originally thought," Canon Managing Director Masahiro Osawa told a news conference.
Canon said its group operating profit dropped to 160.15 billion yen ($1.48 billion) in the April-June quarter from 181.47 billion yen a year earlier.
Net profit fell.
But Canon stood by its operating profit forecast of 770 billion yen for calendar 2008, which exceeds a market consensus of 743.8 billion yen in a poll of 18 analysts by Reuters Estimates and would mark a ninth straight year of higher profits.
The company tweaked its annual sales forecast higher, to 4.59 trillion yen from 4.57 trillion yen.
Canon had cut its annual profit outlook in April, citing a stronger yen and slower copier demand.
It earns more than three-quarters of its revenue overseas, the value of which falls when converted back into a stronger Japanese currency.
Canon is still cashing in on strong demand for digital single-lens reflex cameras, which are high-end models with interchangeable lenses.
Canon is the world's No.1 digital camera maker, offering IXY and EOS brand models.
Canon and Nikon control a combined 83 percent of the digital SLR market, the fastest growing and most lucrative segment of the overall digital camera industry.
Smaller rivals include Sony, Nikon and Olympus. Rival Ricoh reports quarterly results on Friday and Sony on July 29.
Prior to the earnings announcement, shares in Canon closed up, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC, which also rose.
Canon shares have slipped this year through Wednesday, while the sub index lost.
Print
Email
- Will the Fed raise rates? Will the dollar continue its slide? CNBC experts weigh in on the year ahead.
- CNBC’s Larry Kudlow offers Tiger Woods some advice on dealing with tabloid scrutiny.
- Goldman Sachs has forbidden employees from gathering in private holiday parties of 12 or more.
- Dictionary.com says that of all words searched for in 2009, a synonym for greed was the top gainer.
- Heavily armed pirates in Somalia have set up a sort of stock exhange to fund their hijackings.
- Since its launch in 1998, Google has become a primary force on the Internet. How much do you know about the company?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes