Camera producer Canon raises profit outlook as diversification pays off

Japan’s Canon Inc on Wednesday lifted its full- year operating profit forecast after reporting strong firstquarter results.

The camera and printer producer forecast profit of 270 billion yen ($ 2.43 billion), up from 255 billion yen estimated in January. It reported profit of 228.9 billion in the previous 12 months.

The upbeat outlook suggests that Canon’s strategy to diversify has begun to pay off after the $ 5.8 billion acquisition of a Toshiba medical equipment unit and the $ 2.8 billion takeover of Swedish videosurveillance company Axis AB.

Canon also said that two existing businesses that have long depressed earnings – laser printers and cameras – appear to be bottoming out.

A recovery in the Chinese and other emerging economies is pushing up demand for laser printers, while the continued popularity of so- called mirrorless cameras is driving camera sales, executive vice president and chief financial officer Toshizo Tanaka said at an earnings briefing.

First- quarter operating profit jumped 88.8 percent to 75.67 billion yen.

Tanaka said that the company is not in a situation to consider joining the bidding for Toshiba’s flash memory unit.

Toshiba wants to sell most or all of the unit, the world’s second- largest NAND chipmaker behind Samsung Electronics Co. It has narrowed bidders to SK Hynix Inc, Western Digital Corp, Broadcom and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, people familiar with the process have told Reuters.

To keep the technology in Japan, however, the government is calling for domestic companies to join the bidding and team up with state- backed funds, sources have said.