TOKYO - Japan's Canon Inc is likely to beat analysts' estimates by reporting an operating profit for the latest quarter, and it may lift its annual forecast by nearly 13 percent, a newspaper said.

Boosted by brisk sales of single-lens reflex cameras and a weaker yen, the world's largest digital camera maker is set to book an operating profit of about 30 billion yen (S$463 million) for January-March, the Nikkei business daily reported.

But some analysts said that greater weakness in the yen compared with company estimates should be boosting profits higher than the reported amount.

He said he does not believe a bottom has yet been reached in Canon's laser printers, copiers and lithography equipment businesses.

First-quarter profit of 30 billion yen (S$463 million) would still be a drop of 82 percent from a year earlier but higher than an average estimate of an 18.7 billion yen (S$286 million) loss from a poll of three analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Such a result may prompt Canon to lift its 2009 profit projection by 12.5 percent to about 180 billion yen (S$2.75 billion), the paper said, much higher than the market consensus of 129 billion yen (S$1.97 billion).

Company spokesman Hiroshi Yoshinaga said that a weaker yen than estimated had provided a tailwind to earnings, but added that while sales of single-lens reflex cameras had been strong, sales of business-use printers and office supplies had been hit.

He declined to comment on the reported figures. Company executives have said that the firm could post a quarterly loss.

Shares in Canon, which leads Sony Corp and Nikon Corp in digital cameras and competes with Xerox Corp
and Ricoh Co Ltd in copiers and printers, gained 1.2 percent to 2,920 yen.

The benchmark Nikkei average fell 0.5 percent. For the fourth quarter, Canon reported an 81 percent fall in
profit and predicted a further slide in annual profit to a 14-year low this year.