Japanese precision equipment maker Ricoh Co posted a rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as strong sales of colour copiers outweighed costs of downsizing its optical disk business, but cut its operating profit outlook. Ricoh, which competes with Canon Inc and Xerox in the global copier market, said its group operating profit was 38.7 billion yen ($373.3 million) in the October-December third quarter compared with a profit of 36.2 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

The results echo earnings from Canon, which reported a 17 percent jump in quarterly profit a week ago thanks in large part to strong colour copier sales. Solid demand for colour machines also boosted Xerox's quarterly results.

Ricoh, however, trimmed its outlook for operating profit for the year to March 31 to 147 billion yen from its previous target of 151 billion yen.

Shares of Ricoh fell 4.7 percent in the October-December quarter, underperforming Tokyo's precision machinery index, which rose 4.5 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2005