Nikon's H1 profit to jump 41 percent------paper

[anubis]

Nikon's H1 profit to jump 41 pct-paper

TOKYO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Nikon Corp . may report a 41 percent rise in profit for the six months to September, helped by the weaker yen and strong demand for advanced digital cameras, business daily Nihon Keizai said on Friday.
Operating profit may increase to around a record 40 billion yen ($340.7 million), the newspaper said. That exceeds the company's initial expectation by about 10 billion yen.

The impact of the stronger euro against the yen boosted its overseas earnings, the newspaper said.

Nikon bases its earnings estimate on a rate of 135 yen to the euro. In early Friday trade the euro was around 150.40 yen.

The company increased sales of its digital single-lens reflex cameras, mainly in North America, the paper said. Such cameras have higher profit margins than compact models, and also help sales of interchangeable lenses.

Sales of steppers, machines for making chips, also rose after the company introduced new models, the paper said.

A Nikon spokesman declined to confirm the figures in the report.