Canon Q3 profit down 54 pct on slow copier demand

TOKYO, Oct 27 - Japan's Canon Inc posted a 54 percent slide in quarterly profit as weak copier demand outweighed robust digital camera sales, and the company kept its annual forecast for operating profit to fall 62 percent.

Operating profit at Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp, came in at 59.99 billion yen ($651 million) in July-September, down from 129.27 billion yen a year earlier.

Canon's single-lens reflex cameras -- high-end models with interchangeable lenses --saw strong demand, while copier sales stayed sluggish due to cautious IT spending by companies.

For the full year to December, Canon stood by its operating profit forecast of 190 billion yen on Tuesday, down 62 percent on the year and compared with a consensus of a 197.9 billion yen in a poll of 22 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares in Canon, which competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co in copiers and printers, have gained 32 percent since the start of the year through Monday, roughly in line with the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index.