TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) - Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc posted a 72 percent fall in quarterly profit, hit by slow copier demand, but it raised its full-year forecast by 6 percent.
Operating profit at Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp and Nikon Corp, came in at 44.9 billion yen ($473 million) in April-June, down from 160.15 billion yen a year earlier. Canon gained from solid demand for high-end cameras, but its copiers and printers business suffered sluggish sales as companies rein in spending on office machines in a tough economic environment.
For the full-year to December, Canon on Tuesday raised its operating profit forecast to 190 billion yen from 180 billion.
The new forecast is still 62 percent lower on the year and compares with the consensus of a 174 billion yen profit in a poll of 18 analysts by Reuters.
Shares in Canon, which competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co in office machines, have gained 20 percent since April through Monday, underperforming a 28 percent rise in the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Anshuman Daga)