TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc (4902.T: Quote, Profile, Research) cut its annual profit forecast by 24 percent on slow copier demand, casting a shadow over the performance of other office machine makers such as Canon and Ricoh. Konica Minolta, which competes with Xerox Corp (XRX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Ricoh Co Ltd (7752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) in copiers and printers, lowered its operating profit outlook to 34 billion yen ($372 million) for the year ending March 31 from 45 billion yen.
The new forecast is roughly in line with a consensus of 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The Nikkei business daily said earlier on Friday that Canon's operating profit for July-September likely halved from the previous year to 60 billion yen as a stronger yen and sluggish sales of copiers and laser printers weighed on its earnings.
Canon, also the world's largest digital camera maker, is unlikely to change its operating profit forecast of 190 billion yen for calendar 2009, the Nikkei said.
Prior to the announcement, shares in Konica Minolta closed up 0.1 percent at 875 yen, keeping pace with the benchmark Nikkei average .N225. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Joseph Radford)
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