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TOKYO : Japanese electronics maker Canon Inc. said on Wednesday it posted record earnings in 2007 on the back of brisk digital camera sales, although its net profit was slightly below expectations.
Predicting another record year in 2008, the maker of Ixy, Powershot and EOS brand digital cameras said its sales were boosted by the launch of new models and a bottoming out of the decline in camera prices.
Canon Inc., often hailed as a success story in Japan's recovery from a recession a decade ago, said its net profit went up 7.2 percent year-on-year to 488.33 billion yen (4.6 billion dollars) in the year to December.
While a record high, the figure was just below the company's earlier forecast for a net profit of 500 billion yen, which had already been revised down.
Operating profit and revenue also rose to all-time highs, the company statement said. Operating profit rose by 7.0 percent to 756.67 billion yen and revenue by 7.8 percent to 4.48 trillion yen, it said.
The company blamed the slightly weaker than expected net profit on tougher economic conditions towards the end of last year due to the US sub-prime loan crisis.
"We did not expect sub-prime loan problems to escalate to this extent," Canon managing director Masahiro Osawa told a news conference.
"We expect economic conditions to recover in the second half of the year on the back of effective measures taken in each country," he said.
Osawa added that Canon planned to launch "a variety of strong products" in 2008 "to overcome stagnant market conditions."
For 2008, the company is forecasting another set of records, projecting net profit of 520 billion yen, operating profit of 800 billion yen and revenue of 4.72 trillion yen.
To achieve sustained growth, the company has hiked its budgets both for capital spending and research development in the current year.
Among other Japanese electronics makers reporting results, office equipment maker Ricoh Co. Ltd. said its net profit rose 2.8 percent in the fiscal third quarter as it benefited from strong sales abroad of value-added printers.
But the company has cut its profit projections for the fiscal year to March, citing the adverse impact of the recent strengthening of the yen and deteriorating profitability in the US.
Watch and electronics equipment maker Seiko Epson Corp. meanwhile reported that it had become more profitable.
It said its net profit rose by nearly 60 percent in the nine months to December despite sliding revenue due to persistently lower prices.
Victor Co of Japan (JVC) posted a net profit of 3.36 billion yen for the three months to December, compared with a year earlier loss of 1.45 billion yen, helped by cost cuts and higher sales of its camcorders and audio accessories. - AFP/de
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