Q2: Canon Reported Increased Net Profit

Canon reported its 2nd quarter financial report on July 24. Sales income grew 7.5% to ¥967 billion (US$ 9.67 billion) from last year’s ¥899.2 billion. Net income rose to ¥66.5 billion (US$ 665 million) from the previous year’s ¥51.7 billion, increased by 28.6%.

Canon attributes the increases to the steady sales growth of competitive MFDs and laser printers, increased sales of inkjet printers and the positive effect of favorable currency exchange rates.

In the Office Business Unit, Canon reported ¥520.0 billion (US$ 5.2 billion) sales, an increase of 14.6% year on year. Operating profit totaled ¥76.2 billion (US$ 770 million), a 30.7% increase.

According to Canon, “Sales of color office MFDs increased compared with the same period in 2012, driven by the enhanced imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5200/C2200 series lineups. Sales of production printing systems continued to grow steadily, with the new imagePRESS C1+II contributing to healthy sales in Japan. As for high speed continuous feed printers and wide-format printers, sales of the Océ ColorStream 3000 series showed solid growth”.

The overall laser market continued to shrink in the 2nd quarter, but Canon has recorded an increase in sales volume “owing to sales expansion efforts centered on laser multifunction printers”.

Inkjet printers classified in the Imaging System Business Unit, which reported ¥386.0 billion (US$ 3,899 million) sales, increased by 4.4%. According to Canon, although sales volume of inkjet hardware dipped from the year-ago period, sales for the segment enjoyed solid growth with an increase in sales of consumable supplies, even when excluding the effects of the favorable foreign exchange rate.

Canon expects the weak yen to increase finical year sales by around 12%. Forecasted net profit forecast for the full year was reduced to ¥260 billion (US$ 2.6 billion).