Nikon Corporation announces loss for the first quarter

Sales in Europe declined to Yen 47.7 billion (Euro 349.5 million) in the first quarter, compared with Yen 60.8 billion (Euro 445.5 million) in the same period last year.

According to Nikon, the company’s Precision Equipment business and the Instruments business continued to suffer sigfnificantly from the impact of cut-backs in capital investments by clients since the prior fiscal year. The Imaging Products business also recorded a decrease in both revenue and earnings from the same period in the previous year due to the strong Yen and weak market conditions in spite of stronger than expected sales of medium/high-end models and interchangeable lenses of SLR cameras.