Canon Inc. announced Wednesday that its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of 2003 jumped 126.2 percent from a year before to a quarterly record of 71.6 billion yen, due to brisk sales of digital cameras and cost-cutting measures.
In its consolidated earnings report, based on U.S. accounting standards, the company said sales in the camera division soared 37.1 percent to 117.5 billion yen due to strong demand for new digital cameras.
Sales of laser printers and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment also recovered in the January-March period, the company said.
As a result, its operating profit surged 81.9 percent to 117.41 billion yen.
For the full year through December, Canon said it projects a group net profit of 240 billion yen, up 25.8 percent from the preceding year, and a pretax profit of 410 billion yen, up 24.2 percent, on sales of 3.15 trillion yen, up 7.2 percent.