Canon To Revise Down Yearly Forecast Slightly

Canon, a global high-tech giant, announced that its net profit for the January-March quarter fell 2% on the year to 55.4 billion yen. Sales grew 11% to 839.1 billion yen, driven by strong sales of monochrome copiers in emerging nations as well as robust growth in sales of office equipment.Canon lowered its earnings forecast for the year through December 2011, with sales expected to inch up 1% to just 3.73 trillion yen, 370 billion yen lower than its previous estimate. Net profit will likely fall 11% to 220 billion yen, down from its previous estimate of a 310 billion yen profit.In its quarerly report, Canon has been directly affected by the earthquake including losses form damaged buildings and inventory, and has incurred such indirect effects as electricity restrictions, supply shortages of components and a decline in consumer spending in the Japanese market. These factors and others would negatively affect Canon's operating results and financial position. Canon seeks the restoration of production facilities and rebuilding of production systems.