Canon Q2 profit more than doubles, keeps outlook

Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc (7751.T) posted a 153 percent rise in quarterly profit, a bigger than expected climb on robust sales of its high-end cameras.

For the year to Dec. 31 the maker of IXY compact cameras and upmarket EOS cameras kept its operating profit outlook at 360 billion yen ($4.1 billion), compared with a consensus for 384 billion yen in a poll of seven analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

April-June operating profit was 113.4 billion yen, compared with a consensus forecast of 90.6 billion yen in a poll of four analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It marked the third straight quarter of year-on-year profit growth for the world's biggest maker of digital cameras, ahead of Sony Corp (6758.T) and Nikon (7731.T).

Shares in Canon, which also competes with Xerox Corp (XRX.N) and Ricoh Co (7752.T) in office equipment, fell 19.2 percent from April to Monday, underperforming Tokyo's electrical machinery index IELEC.T, which fell 16.8 percent in the same period.

News source: reuters