UPDATE 1-Nikon posts Q1 profit, sees bigger annual loss

* Q1 profit 730 mln yen vs 3.7 bln yen loss consensus * Expects bigger annual operating loss of 30 bln yen * Cuts FY stepper shipment outlook * Shares close down 2.8 pct ahead of announcement

TOKYO, Aug 5 - Japanese precision equipment and camera maker Nikon Corp reported a surprise quarterly profit after offseting weak demand for its chip equipment with cost cuts, but said it expects wider losses this year.

The world's no.2 maker of chip steppers after Netherlands-based ASML is restructuring its stepper operations as it awaits a recovery in spending by major chipmakers, which are just emerging from a prolonged downturn.

Orders for Nikon's chip equipment are a leading indicator of demand at its customers such as chipmakers Intel Corp and Toshiba Corp. ASML last week reported an upsurge in orders for its machines.

For the full financial year to next March, Nikon, which also makes digital single-lens reflex cameras and compact cameras, lowered its forecast to an operating loss of 30 billion yen ($315.6 million), compared with its previous forecast for a 12 billion yen loss and below an average estimate by analysts of a 4.9 billion yen loss.

Steppers are multi-million dollar machines used to scan circuitry onto silicon wafers to make semiconductors. Canon Inc also competes in the market.

Nikon lowered its annual shipment outlook for its new chip lithography machines to 36 units from its May forecast of 40 units. In April-June, the company's operating profit came to 730 million yen against a profit of 28.7 billion yen last year and beating an average estimate for a loss of 3.7 billion yen by 3 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

It reported a net loss of 4 billion yen, compared with an 18 billion yen profit the previous year on a 26.4 percent fall in sales.

Shares of Nikon rose 51 percent in April-June while Canon rose 12 percent and fellow precision equipment and camera maker Olympus Corp gained 45 percent.

Nikon's shares closed down 2.8 percent prior to the results announcement, against a 1.9 percent fall in Tokyo's electrical machinery index.