Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon said Monday its profits fell nearly 29% in the three months to March, due to reduced demand for cameras.

The company said net profit dropped to 33.9 billion yen ($284 million) for the January-March period, while operating profit fell 19.9 percent to 66.2 billion yen, on sales of 857.4 billion yen, down 1.3 percent.

It said slower camera sales and an increase in the cost of research led to the decline in profit, although the firm saw steady demand for laser printers and copy machines.

"During the first quarter, MFDs (multifunction copier/printers) and laser printers enjoyed steady growth that has continued from the previous year," the company said in a statement.

"Despite solid growth in the US market, interchangeable-lens digital cameras continued to face severe conditions in other regions while sales volume for digital compact cameras decreased in all regions compared with the same period of the previous year," it said.

"Net sales of inkjet printers also decreased, mainly in Japan and emerging countries," Canon added.

Looking ahead, Canon lowered its annual projections, expecting a net profit of 255 billion yen, down from an earlier expectation for 260 billion yen.

Annual sales are now expected to reach 3.86 trillion yen, down from 3.9 trillion expected earlier. The company kept the annual operation profit projection at 380 billion yen.
Source: AFP