By Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Ricoh Co Ltd (7752.T), the world's largest copier maker, cut its mid-term earnings goals less than expected on Friday, helped by cost cuts and overseas acquisitions in recent years.
Ricoh, along with rivals Canon Inc (7751.T) and Xerox Corp (XRX.N), has remained profitable amid the global economic crisis, benefiting from sales of toner and ink for office printers and copiers, which are relatively recession-proof.
That stands in stark contrast to other firms like Sony Corp (6758.T) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), which are forecasting big annual losses as consumers in their main export markets rein in spending.
Ricoh cut its operating profit estimate for the year starting April 2010 by a third to 170 billion yen ($1.7 billion) to reflect a firmer yen. The new target is still much higher than a consensus of 92 billion yen from nine analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
"You may find it a little too aggressive. But we are determined to do our best under the new target," Ricoh Chief Executive Shiro Kondo told analysts and reporters on Friday.
Ricoh also said it now aims for 2.3 trillion yen in revenues in the 2010/11 business year, 8 percent less than its earlier estimate.
Ricoh's stock rose 8.5 percent to 1,025 yen, in line with strong gains in exporters' shares which pushed the benchmark Nikkei average .N225 up 5.2 percent.
The new targets are based on foreign exchange assumptions of 90 yen to the dollar and 120 yen per euro, compared with earlier assumptions of 105 yen to the dollar and 155 yen per euro.
For the business year ending this month, Ricoh expects operating profit to fall 45 percent from a year earlier to 100 billion yen, largely in line with expectations.
Ricoh's Chief Financial Officer Zenji Miura said that thanks to its wider global network and product line-up, the company is now well positioned to benefit from pent-up corporate demand that is likely to emerge once the global economy recovers.
Ricoh bought International Business Machines Corp's (IBM.N) digital commercial printing operations for $725 million in 2007 and paid $1.6 billion last year to buy Ikon Office Solutions, the world's largest independent office equipment distributor.
Digital commercial printers are used to print big documents such as product manuals and direct mail quickly and in large volumes, and are one of the fastest-growing segments of the office equipment market. ($1=97.49 Yen) (Additional reporting by Sachi Izumi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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