Canon Q1 operating profit dips on weaker compact camera sales

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan’s Canon Inc said first quarter operating profit fell 34% year-on-year, hurt by weaker demand for compact cameras as consumers switched to smartphones.

The camera and printer-maker’s operating profit for the three months ended 31 March fell to 54.8 billion yen ($551.53 million)from 82.7 billion yen a year ago, undershooting the consensus estimate of 85.3 billion yen from three analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the business year to 31 December 2013, the company raised its forecast for operating profit to 450 billion yen from 410 billion yen. That compares with the average expectation of a 473 billion yen profit among 21 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The company upped its forecast for the yen rate against the dollar to 95 yen for the business year compared with 85 yen to the dollar three months earlier. In the quarter ended 31 March the yen averaged 92.06 to the dollar.

Canon also said it expected to sell 14.5 million compact cameras in the current business year that ends in December, down from its previous forecast of 17 million units, but it expected a weaker yen versus the dollar. The camera and printer maker expected an average exchange rate of 95 yen to the dollar in 2013, down from its previous assumption of 85. It also revised the average euro exchange rate assumption to 125 yen this year, from 115.

Canon kept its estimates of interchangeable lens camera sales of 9.2 million this year.