Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Canon hikes profit outlook on demand for surveillance cameras, OLED production gear

Published 10/24/2017, 03:49 AM
Updated 10/24/2017, 03:49 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - People are silhouetted against a display of the Canon brand logo at CP+ camera and photo trade fair in Yokohama

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - People are silhouetted against a display of the Canon brand logo at CP+ camera and photo trade fair in Yokohama

By Thomas Wilson

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Canon Inc hiked its annual profit forecast for the third time on Tuesday on the back of expanding demand for "business-to-business" products from surveillance cameras to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen production equipment.

Canon, which also makes copiers and printers, forecast operating profit to soar by more than half to 350 billion yen ($3 billion) for the year through December as capital expenditure by manufacturers grows.

Coupled with a doubling of operating profit in the third-quarter, the upbeat outlook - which surpassed analysts' estimates - suggests Canon's diversification from a global camera market under attack from increasingly sophisticated smartphones is paying off.

Imaging industry peers from Fujifilm Holdings Corp to Konica Minolta Inc have taken a similar approach, looking to spend on mergers and acquisitions to move further beyond their traditional businesses.

Late last year Canon bought CT scanner and ultrasound equipment maker Toshiba Medical Systems from Toshiba Corp.

In 2015 it bought Swedish video surveillance firm AXIS for $2.8 billion, a move which helped Canon reach the top of the video surveillance market.

Demand for medical devices and network cameras - devices housing a lens, image sensor and processor in one unit - helped Canon's third-quarter operating profit more than double to 80.5 billion yen versus a year earlier even as demand for consumer cameras and printers shrank or remained flat.

Canon said it was helped by a weaker yen in the third quarter, when the Japanese currency averaged 110.93 against the U.S. dollar - a year-on-year drop of around nine yen.

Foreign sales accounted for almost four-fifths of Canon's total revenue in the first nine months of the year, with the United States - its biggest market - accounting for over a quarter.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - People are silhouetted against a display of the Canon brand logo at CP+ camera and photo trade fair in Yokohama

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.