* May seek M&As to aid expansion in emerging markets
* Seeks to double Asian sales of office equipment
* LED lighting components seen as source of mid-term growth
* Trial manufacture of OLED panels to begin this month (Adds comments, details)
By Isabel Reynolds and Reiji Murai
TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings aims to more than double operating profit from current levels to over 100 billion yen ($1.20 billion) in the year to March 2014, CEO Masatoshi Matsuzaki said in an interview on Monday.
The maker of printers and high-tech components suffered a slump in profits following the global financial crisis, with operating income sliding to 44 billion yen in the year to March 2010 from nearly 120 billion yen two years earlier.
Its profit forecast for the current year to March 2011 is 50 billion yen.
Konica Minolta aims to reach its profit target by doubling combined sales of office equipment and medical and graphic technology in Asia in three years, pushing production printing technology in existing markets and developing new product lines such as environmentally friendly light-emitting diode (LED) lighting components, Matsuzaki said.
The company, which competes with Xerox Corp, Canon Inc and Ricoh Co Ltd in office equipment, may also consider mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a source of growth, he said.
"For example, we want to increase sales in emerging markets. That could be done via M&A," Matsuzaki said, adding that tie-ups with other companies could also be needed to help provide a broader range of products in office equipment.
Having insulated itself to the dollar's fall against the yen by manufacturing its mainstay printers in China, the company will now shift its China focus to expanding sales of those products.
"We already have both direct sales and a dealer channel. We are the No.1 brand in China," he said. "We are in a strong position, and we want to increase our share."
The company will seek to raise Chinese sales growth by more than the current level of about 18 percent a year, he said.
Konica Minolta has seen little fall-out so far from the territorial row between China and Japan inflamed by last month's collision between a Chinese trawler and Japanese Coast Guard vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Matsuzaki said there had been some delays at customs, but they had had little impact on the company's business and he was waiting for the end of a series of Chinese public holidays to judge if the situation had been resolved.
Targets for the LED lighting business will be included in a three-year mid-term business plan to be unveiled next year.
But Matsuzaki does not expect next-generation organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology to make a reliable contribution to profits for about five years. Trial production will begin this month, he said.
General Electric of the United States, with whom Konica Minolta has been developing OLED lighting technology, has said it will start selling a lamp using the energy efficient, bendable panels in 2011, but Matsuzaki declined to say if Konica Minolta would supply components. ($1=83.19 Yen) (Editing by Michael Watson)