Canon slashes profit view on sales tumble, strong yen

Canon on Wednesday slashed its annual profit forecast, as it warned that a slowdown in emerging economies and a strong yen were taking a bite out of the bottom line. The camera and copier maker also said that nine-month sales and profit figures tumbled from a year ago. January-September net profit dropped 30 percent to 105.8 billion yen, while sales were off 11 percent from a year ago, it said. It added that it now expected its full-year bottom line to shrink by one-quarter to 165 billion yen ($1.58 billion), with sales and operating profit set to come in lower than the previous year. Canon said the downgrade was due to "a prolonged economic slowdown in developing nations and revised foreign exchange rate assumptions, which negatively affect sales and gross profit". It added that it is facing "greater uncertainty" after Britain's vote to leave the European Union, as firms scramble to assess how the decision will impact their business in the region. The yen, seen as a safe investment in times of turmoil, spiked after the June referendum. But a stronger yen shrinks the value of Japanese firms' repatriated profits.