TOKYO: Japan's Canon on Monday boosted its full-year profit forecast, saying that a weak yen was offsetting tepid demand for its digital cameras and printers.
The firm now expects a net profit of 250 billion yen ($2.3 billion) this year, up from an earlier 240 billion yen forecast, on slightly lower sales of 3.74 trillion yen.
Also Monday, Canon booked a 12.3 percent rise in net profit to 186.7 billion in the nine months through September, while operating profit rose 8.7 percent to 265.0 billion yen.
Sales slipped 1.1 percent from a year ago to 2.67 trillion yen, it said.
"Corporate demand for multifunction printers will likely continue growing at a moderate pace," Canon said in a statement.
"While sales of SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras in Europe and Japan may remain subdued, demand in the United States and China are expected to recover," it added.
Since late 2012, the yen has dropped from around 80 against the US dollar to the 108 level in Monday forex trading.
A cheaper currency helps make Japanese exporters more competitive overseas and inflates their repatriated earnings in yen terms.
Canon and Japanese rivals including Sony and Olympus have seen a big drop in demand for their digital imaging products as camera-equipped smartphone sales boom.
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