The third quarter figures for the Japanese company point to a successful year so far.
Canon Inc. has published its financial results for the third quarter of 2017, and its forecasts for the rest of the year. The company has enjoyed a prosperous three months, and year in general, with sales and profits both increasing dramatically.
Toshizo Tanaka, Canon’s Executive Vice President and CFO, announced a third consecutive quarter of overall sales and profit growth, with net sales increasing by 27.7 percent and operating profit up 101.1 percent. Sales for the third quarter rose to ¥994 billion ($8.8 billion/ €7.4 million), and operating profit climbed to ¥80.4 billion ($70.5 million/ €59.8 million).
Examining Canon’s figures for the nine months leading up to the end of September as a whole, net sales are up 21.5 percent to ¥2,959 billion ($26 billion/ €22 billion); meanwhile, the Japanese company has seen a huge leap in its operating profits so far in 2016, rising 69.8 percent to ¥252 billion ($2.2 billion/ €1.86 billion).
This growth was in part attributed by Tanaka to the improving employment situation in major developed economies such as Japan, Europe, and the United States, alongside gradual economic expansion in the Chinese market. According to Tanaka, the changes in exchange rates also contributed positively, as the yen declined in value against the dollar and the euro.
Canon’s Executive Vice President and CFO Toshizo Tanaka explained in his presentation at the Analysts meeting held 24 October, that “Amid the ongoing market shift to color copiers, we continue to post double-digit growth in color unit sales. This level of growth significantly exceeds that of the overall color market and mainly reflects expanded sales of models within our new next-generation lineup, which we completed in the first half of this year.
“In addition to continued strong sales of our core iR ADVANCE C5500 series of mid- to high-speed models, other drivers of growth were the iR ADVANCE C3500 series, which targets small- and medium size offices, and the iR C3000, a series designed for emerging markets that offers
competitive cost performance. Within this, the iR C3000 series is also contributing to the cultivation of new customers in emerging markets and a subsequent increase in overall market share.
“The market for laser printer hardware continues to recover, recording a third consecutive quarter of year-on-year unit growth, thanks to economic expansion in emerging markets, especially China.
“Against this backdrop, our hardware sales were below those of last year, but within the range of our expectations. This reflects the high level of sales in the third quarter of 2016 during which our hardware sales were going through a phase of recovery. Ultimately, we are making steady progress in shifting to high value-added products, evidenced by an increasing proportion of sales generated through new products, which will lead to stable consumable sales in the future.
“For consumables, as per our plan, we significantly exceeded last year’s sales. As a result, we posted a third consecutive quarter of year-on-year sales growth for our laser printer business.”
Canon has also published its projections for the final quarter of the year and its total sales and profits for 2017. The company forecasts the total net sales figure to be ¥4,080 billion ($35 billion/ €29.7 billion), and the overall operating profit to reach ¥350 billion ($3.06 billion/ €2.59 billion), increases of 19.9 percent and 52.9 percent, respectively, from 2016.
Tanaka stated that the global economy seemed to be on a path of recovery, despite continued geopolitical uncertainties. He declared that “the Canon Group will work in concerted effort to achieve its aim of sales and profit growth for the first time in four years, and make 2017 a break-through year that befits our 80th anniversary.”