Canon has reported a 5 per cent fall in quarterly operating profit and cut its annual outlook today as it copes with the effects of Japan's earthquake, which halted some production and looks likely to hinder it further.

The world's largest maker of digital cameras said its operating profit for the January-March quarter was 82.5 billion yen, after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami led to shortages of components.

Profits at Canon, which competes with Sony and Nikon in cameras and Xerox and Ricoh in copiers, have been under pressure as it has been unable to resume full production at some plants.

The company, which also makes ink jet printers, cut its operating profit forecast for its business year to the end of December to 335 billion yen from its earlier estimate of 470 billion. That was below an average estimate of 396.5 billion yen in a poll of six analysts taken after the quake.

Reuters