2002 & Ricoh

Fitch Assigns 'A-' Ratings To Ricoh Company Ltd.

Fitch Ratings has assigned a Long-term rating of 'A-' ('A minus') to Ricoh,

a global copier and printer manufacturer. The rating Outlook is Stable.

A number of factors have combined to effectively boost Ricoh's

profitability, including its strong financial status, competitive prowess

in digital copiers and high-speed printers, strong distribution network in

Europe and the US, as well as income from supplies and servicing fees. The

rating reflects the improvement in Ricoh's earning capacity and its

financial position. At the same time, it takes into account the company's

low-profit operations such as optical disk drives.

In the fiscal year ended (FYE) March 2002, sales increased by 9% to

JPY1,672.3 billion, with net profit climbing 16% to JPY61.6bn, the eighth

consecutive year of growing sales and the tenth of rising net profit,

thanks to copier and printer sales growth in Europe and the US. Ricoh also

reaped benefits from its January 2001 purchase of a US distributor

Reuters Company News
Ricoh Q1 energised by fast copiers,colour printers

(Adds executive's comments, stock price)

TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh Co Ltd posted strong first-quarter profits and raised its full-year outlook on Thursday, defying currency and economic woes with brisk overseas sales of cutting-edge copiers and printers.
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Ricoh (Tokyo:7752.T - News), which vies with Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX - News) and Canon Inc (Tokyo:7751.T - News) for the top spot among the world's copier makers, posted a 13.6 percent rise in consolidated operating profit for the April-June quarter to 35.93 billion yen ($300 million).

Net profit rose 31.2 percent to 19.52 billion yen, on revenues of 428.27 billion yen, up 4.0 percent.

"We achieved our goal of a heavier weighting for high-margin products like high-speed copiers and colour printers, which saw especially strong demand overseas," Ricoh deputy president Tatsuo Hirakawa told a news briefing.

"We were also able to push down costs and expenses quite a bit. We believe this situation will continue, so we raised our targets," he said.

Ricoh, which had already forecast a ninth consecutive year of record profits in 2002/03, raised its full-year net profit target to 72.50 billion yen from a forecast issued in May of 67.50 billion yen. Last year's net was 61.61 billion yen.

The full-year operating profit forecast was raised to 140 billion yen from 136 billion, beating last year's 129.7 billion.

The revenue figure, however, was cut to 1.75 trillion yen from 1.77 trillion yen, reflecting the effects of the sluggish domestic economy and the stronger yen.

It would still surpass the prior year's 1.67 trillion yen.

The company lowered it assumed exchange rate for the business year to 118 yen per dollar from 125 yen per dollar. The dollar was trading just below 120 yen late on Thursday in Tokyo.

A stronger yen means that Japan's exporters get less of the Japanese currency for goods they sell abroad.

The announcement came after the end of share trade in Tokyo.

Ricoh ended 0.1 percent lower at 1,958 yen, outperforming a 0.85 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average (^N225 - News).

Its shares have fallen nearly 20 percent over the past two months, weighed down by worries the high yen would deplete its earnings power.

But Ricoh's Hirakawa said the momentum of its high-end products overcame the dampening effect of currency movements.

"The product mix proved to be a bigger factor than the yen's rise," he said.

Asked about the company's plans for its hoard of cash, Hirakawa said the first priority would be looking for acquisitions and alliances.

Another possibility would be buying up shares of publicly listed units to make them wholly owned subsidiaries, in a bid to shore up management control over the group.

The company may also use the money to purchase some of its own shares, he said. ($1=119.77 Yen)

Reuters Company News
Ricoh posts record profit, eyes more gains

(Adds comments from company executive, fund manager)

By Edmund Klamann

TOKYO, May 8 (Reuters) - Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh Co Ltd on Wednesday posted a record net profit for the year that ended in March and forecast further gains for this year, boosted by popular products that defied an info-tech slump.
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It said consolidated net profit in 2001/02 rose 15.8 percent to 61.61 billion yen ($480.7 million), in line with an upwardly revised forecast it issued in February.

Operating profit rose 23.4 percent to 129.70 billion yen on revenues of 1.67 trillion yen, up 8.7 percent.

"With the help of favourable foreign exchange rates, we saw strong growth in overseas sales," Ricoh Deputy President Tatsuo Hirakawa told a news conference.

"One negative spot was the domestic market, which turned out a little more sluggish than we had originally anticipated."

Ricoh's overseas sales in the last business year jumped 26.6 percent from a year earlier to 769.7 billion yen, while its domestic sales dipped three percent to 902.7 billion yen.

Both Ricoh, Japan's second-largest office machine maker, and number-one Canon Inc (Tokyo:7751.T - news) have posted strong earnings despite an info-tech slump last year that left many of Japan's blue-chip electronics manufacturers deep in the red.

The office machine makers were bolstered by successful new products and weakness at rival Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX - news), while a drop in the yen boosted the value of their sizable overseas income when converted into the Japanese currency.

In the domestic market, however, a decline in sales of old-line copiers offset growth in advanced, multi-functional printers, which work as a network printer as well as a copier, resulting in the three percent fall in revenues.

"I'm afraid growth in multi-functional machines fell slightly short of covering a slide in conventional copiers," Hirakawa said.

For the current business year, Ricoh forecast a consolidated net profit of 67.50 billion yen on revenues of 1.77 trillion yen, aiming for a record profit for the ninth consecutive year.

That was roughly in line with analysts' consensus forecast of a 69.7 billion yen net profit on revenues of 1.75 trillion yen, according to research firm Multex.

"Just like Canon, Ricoh has a business model that ensures stable earnings growth. Its shares are ideal for long-term investors," said Shuichi Hida, a portfolio manager at Sanyo Investment Trust Management.

"It may not be the kind of stock that stages a sharp rally. But you don't need to worry about a sudden downturn in the share price either."

At an analysts' meeting in March, Ricoh President Masamitsu Sakurai promised further growth in the years ahead, aiming for a 2004/05 operating profit of 180 billion yen on sales of 2.0 trillion yen.

He said growth would be driven in large part by a focus on colour, high-speed and networked copiers and printers.

Wednesday's results, which were accompanied by an announcement that the company plans to buy back up to eight million of its own shares for up to 20 billion yen, came after the close of trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Ricoh ended up 2.79 percent at 2,395 yen, outperforming the benchmark Nikkei average's (^N225 - news) 1.81 percent gain.

The shares have jumped smartly from their post-September 11 low of 1,563, although they remain below an all-time high hit nearly one year ago