Nikon Posts Record Sales, Profit on Brisk Digital Camera Sales

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

May 12–TOKYO — Nikon Corp. said Monday it set all-time highs in group sales and all other profit categories in fiscal 2007 due to brisk sales of digital cameras.

In its consolidated earnings report for the year ended in March, Nikon booked a net profit of 75.48 billion yen, up 37.7 percent over the previous year, on a 16.2 percent increase in sales to 955.79 billion yen.

Operating and pretax profits jumped 32.5 percent and 34.2 percent, respectively, to 135.17 billion yen and 120.14 billion yen.

Nikon attributed the record-breaking performance to the continued growth of the market for digital cameras. In particular, the company captured the biggest share of the domestic market for single-lens reflex digital cameras.

The company plans to pay a full-year dividend of 25 yen per share for fiscal 2007, up from the previous year’s 18 yen and including 11.5 yen for the fiscal first half.

For the current fiscal year to next March 31, Nikon anticipates difficult market environments such as a slowdown in the growth of the digital camera market as an effect of the U.S. subprime mortgage turmoil.

Nevertheless, the company expects its net and pretax profits to grow 3.3 percent and 4 percent, respectively, to 78 billion and 125 billion yen on a 2.5 percent rise in sales to 980 billion yen.

Operating profit is forecast to decrease 3.8 percent to 130 billion yen.

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