Japanese camera and precision equipment maker Nikon swung to a small quarterly profit today, but fell short of market expectations and cut its full-year profit forecast.
Nikon, which competes with market leader Canon and Sony in digital cameras, benefited from healthy demand for its high-end single-lens reflex cameras, especially in Asia.
But, like other Japanese exporters, its profits are being hit hard by a rise in the yen, which is hovering around 15-year highs close to 80 yen against the dollar.
Nikon posted an operating profit of 3.9 billion yen for the July-September quarter, compared with an average estimate of 7.3 billion yen from four analysts.
The company also cut its operating profit forecast for the year to March 2011 to 48 billion yen from 52 billion yen.
Nikon today revised its full-year dollar-yen exchange rate assumption to 84 yen from 91 yen.
In precision equipment, Nikon trimmed its annual sales forecast for chip steppers to 53 units from 54.
Rival chip-equipment maker ASML of the Netherlands, the industry leader, beat forecasts with a big rise in third quarter profits last month and said it should end the year with a record order book.
Shares in Nikon have fallen more than 23 per cent since the beginning of the financial year in April. Ahead of the results, the shares rose 0.3 per cent to 1,552 yen today.