Canon 1Q profit falls 83 percent as sales decline

TOKYO — Canon Inc. said Thursday profit fell 83 percent in the first quarter, dragged down by lower sales of multifunction copy machines and printers as well as a stronger yen.

The electronics manufacturer said net profit was 17.7 billion yen ($181 million) in the January-March period, down from 106.6 billion yen a year earlier. Revenue fell 32 percent to 687 billion yen from 1.01 trillion yen.

The company said the economic downturn led to lower sales for most products, although it sold more single-lens reflex cameras then it did a year earlier. The company also said it had slashed 50 billion yen from operating expenses.

Canon’s profits were also weighed down by less favorable foreign exchange rates. The company makes over 75 percent of its revenue overseas, and a stronger yen can hurt those earnings when repatriated.

For the current fiscal year through December, the company slightly raised its fiscal profit target, while lowering its revenue target.

Canon now sees sales of 3.33 trillion yen, lower than the 3.5 trillion yen it projected earlier. But it raised its operating profit projection to 180 billion yen from 160 billion yen.