Nikon Q1 profit up 73.6 pct, keeps outlook

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Nikon Q1 profit up 73.6 pct, keeps outlook

TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikon Corp. said on Thursday its profit rose 73.6 percent in the latest quarter on strong sales of digital cameras and chip-making equipment, and stuck to its full-year forecast for a 10 percent rise.
Nikon has been booking brisk sales of digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, which are high-end models that use interchangeable lenses, as well as steppers used to make semiconductors and liquid crystal displays.

Nikon, the world's second-biggest maker of digital SLR cameras after Canon Inc. , said its group operating profit came to 24.2 billion yen in the April-June quarter, up from a 13.9 billion yen profit in the same period last year.

The profit figure easily beat the average estimate of 13.1 billion yen from 3 analysts polled by Reuters.

A strong showing by Nikon's stepper division was expected after Dutch rival ASML last week posted a record quarterly profit and said the chip market looked healthy as semiconductor makers step up capital investment.

Nikon had predicted in May that profit at its stepper unit would rise by nearly 40 percent this year as it sells more expensive steppers and because of cost-saving steps such as shortening lead times and using common development platforms.

Shares in Nikon fell 5.3 percent in April-June, outperforming a 7.7 percent fall in Tokyo's precision equipment index .

Prior to the announcement, shares in Nikon closed up 4.06 percent at 1,923 yen, while the precision machines index rose 1.22 percent.