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<strong>From Reuters:</strong></p>
<p>Japan’s Canon Inc on Wednesday lifted its full-year operating profit forecast after reporting strong first-quarter results on the back of earnings from a medical equipment unit it bought from Toshiba Corp last year.</p>
<p>The camera and printer maker forecast profit of 270 billion yen ($2.43 billion), up from 255 billion yen estimated in January. It reported profit of 228.9 billion in the previous twelve months.</p>
<p>The upbeat outlook suggests Canon’s strategy to diversify has begun to reward the company after the $5.8 billion acquisition of the Toshiba unit and the $2.8 billion takeover of Swedish video-surveillance firm Axis AB.</p>
<p><em><strong>Canon also said the two existing businesses that have long dragged its earnings – laser printers and cameras – are also showing signs of bottoming out</strong></em>.</p>
<p>A recovery in the Chinese and other emerging economies is pushing up demand for laser printers, while continued popularity of so-called mirrorless cameras is driving camera sales, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Toshizo Tanaka said at an earnings briefing.</p>
<p>For the January-March quarter, Canon said operating profit jumped 88.8 percent to 75.67 billion yen from 40.09 billion yen a year earlier. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canon-results-idUSKBN17S0II?type=companyNews">Read the full story</a></p>
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