TOKYO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Canon Inc. on Wednesday said its group net profit in 2019 slumped 50.5 percent from a year earlier to 125.11 billion yen (1.14 billion U.S. dollars) owing to falling overseas demand for its cameras and printers.
The Tokyo-based firm said that a slowdown in global growth coupled with the strength of the Japanese yen contributed to the decline, with the maker of imaging and optical products previously forecasting a net profit of 140 billion yen (1.28 billion U.S. dollars).
The company also said its operating profit fell to 174.67 billion yen (1.60 billion U.S. dollars), marking a 49.1 percent decline on sales of 3.59 trillion yen (32.90 billion U.S. dollars), dropping 9.1 percent.
Looking ahead, Canon said in 2020 it forecasts its operating profit to increase 31.7 percent to 230 billion yen (2.10 billion U.S. dollars), on sales of 3.7 trillion yen (33.91 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 3.0 percent.
In the same period, the firm also said it expects its group net profit to rise 27.9 percent to 160 billion yen (1.46 billion U.S. dollars).