Olympus Optical Co. reported Monday record-high sales and profits on a consolidated basis for fiscal 2002, driven by its popular digital cameras and steady growth in medical equipment sales.
Olympus' group net profit grew 136.9 percent from the previous year to 24.35 billion yen, or 91.88 yen per share, on sales of 564.34 billion yen, up 6.8 percent.
Group pretax profit jumped 66.7 percent to 52.42 billion yen, and operating profit rose 47.4 percent to 62.35 billion yen.
The precision instrument manufacturer said all consolidated figures for fiscal 2002 are record highs.
Olympus defied generally sluggish economic activity, especially in the domestic market, after its Camedia digital camera series became a hit in the United States and Europe, pushing up group sales for the ninth consecutive year of growth.
The popularity of Olympus' digital cameras saw the firm's image-equipment business achieve an operating profit of 18.22 billion yen after posting a loss of 8.16 billion yen the previous year.