http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKT36108820080724
Canon Q2 profit down 12 pct as copier sales slow
TOKYO,
July 08 – Japan’s Canon Inc posted a 12 percent fall in quarterly
profit on Thursday, hit by weaker monochrome copier demand and a firm
yen versus the dollar, but the camera and office equipment maker kept
its full-year outlook that exceeds market expectations.April-June
operating profit at Canon, which competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co
Ltd in printers and copiers, dropped to 160.15 billion yen ($1.5
billion) from 181.47 billion yen a year earlier.Profitability at its
office equipment operations has come under pressure as an economic
slowdown has meant businesses are putting off buying or replacing
copiers, although its high-end digital cameras enjoyed brisk demand.
For
calendar 2008, Canon stood by its operating profit forecast in April of
770 billion yen, exceeding a market consensus of 743.8 billion yen in a
poll of 18 analysts by Reuters Estimates.Shares in Canon, the world’s
largest digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp and Nikon Corp , have
eased 0.6 percent this year through Wednesday, while the Tokyo stock
market’s electrical machinery index has fallen 13.6 percent.