Copier maker Ricoh Co. said Thursday its group net profit for the business year through March 31 jumped 17.7 percent to a record 72.51 billion yen.
It attributed the gains to cost-cutting efforts and strong sales of profitable high-tech printers. The result marks the ninth straight year of record earnings.
Group operating profit was up 3.1 percent to 133.65 billion yen while group sales increased 3.9 percent to 1.74 trillion yen, also a record high.
The company said brisk sales of high-priced products, such as multifunction printers and laser printers, pushed up earnings at its main office machinery section, which accounts for nearly 90 percent of Ricoh's revenue.
By region, the firm saw strong growth in Europe, where revenue jumped 13.9 percent from a year earlier to 354.48 billion yen. A weaker yen against the euro was a factor in the increase, the company said.
On measures taken in connection with the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, the firm said it is setting aside half-a-month's worth of inventory as a precaution against a possible shutdown of factories in China. It has also started boosting production at factories in Japan that make the same items produced in the China plants.
The firm expects another record profit for the current year to March, predicting a consolidated net profit of 79 billion yen on revenue of 1.81 trillion yen.