TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh Co Ltd on Friday said it would book an impairment loss of 180 billion yen ($1.72 billion), citing a slump in North American business as users shift from print to digital.

As a result, the firm cut its earnings estimates for the fiscal year ending this month, saying it now expected to book an operating loss of 160 billion yen, a significant cut from its previous forecast of a 20 billion yen operating profit.

Office equipment companies have been under pressure to find new sources of growth as demand for office printing has declined.

In January, Japan's Fujifilm Holdings said it was set to take over Xerox Corp in a $6.1 billion deal to gain scale and cut costs, which Xerox shareholders such as hedge fund managers Darwin Deason and Carl Icahn are trying to stop.