Japan Ricoh Q1 to June net profit up 11 pct on strong printer, copier sales
, 08.03.04, 9:53 AM ET
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Ricoh Co Ltd, Japan's second-largest maker of office equipment, reported its first quarter to June net profit rose 11 pct to 24.8 bln yen, due to increased sales of color copiers and printers.
Operating profit for the April-June quarter rose 2.3 pct - to 39.3 bln from 38.5 bln a year earlier.
Sales fell 0.2 pct to 436.5 bln yen, mainly due to the yen's appreciation against the dollar and the sale of some non-core subsidiaries.
Zenji Miura, managing director in charge of finance, said the appreciation of the Japanese currency reduced the value of sales by 6.5 bln yen.
Sales of non-core subsidiaries in Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand reduced sales by another 5.3 bln yen, Miura said.
"We plan to offer some new products in the second half (to March 2005), which is expected to boost our overall sales," he said.
Sales of office equipment in the first quarter rose just 0.1 pct to 384.0 bln yen, but the operating profit of that division increased 13.1 pct to 50.1 bln yen.
By region, sales in Europe rose 1.7 pct to 100.3 bln yen, while US sales fell 1.4 pct to 78.4 bln yen. Sales in the rest of the world, excluding Japan, fell 30 pct to 24.5 bln yen.
"Asia was not bad, except China where we anticipated more growth," said Miura.
For the full-year to March 2005, Ricoh left its forecast unchanged. It projects a net profit of 95 bln yen, on revenue of 1.81 trln yen.
In the year to March 2004, Ricoh posted a net profit of 91.8 bln yen and an operating profit of 150.0 bln yen, on sales of 1.78 trln yen.
"Our performance in the first quarter was good overall and we are confident that we will attain our profit targets for the full-year," Miura said.
Ricoh's forecast is based on assumed average exchange rates of 106.16 yen to the dollar and 130.54 yen to the euro for the year. In the past year, Ricoh depended on sales overseas for half its revenue, making earnings vulnerable to changes in exchange rates.
Ricoh's shares fell 5 yen or 0.2 pct to 2,155 today ahead of its results.
nozomi.toyama@afxasia.com
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