Tokyo  - Canon Inc on Thursday reported a 15.9-per-cent fall in its net profit during the first half of the year as a stronger yen and higher material costs offset robust sales of digital cameras and copiers.

Net profit fell, for the first time in six years to 214.49 billion yen (2.02 billion dollars) from the same period last year.

Operating profits - or a company's earnings minus interest payments and taxes, which are seen as a measure of its earnings power from ongoing operations - declined
14.9 per cent to 331 billion yen, Canon said.

The Japanese home electronics company saw its sales drop 2.5 per cent to 2.11 trillion yen in the January-June period.

Despite the fall, Canon revised upward its sales forecast for the full year to a record-high 4.59 trillion yen while keeping its net profit projection to 500 billion yen, up 2.4 per cent from the year before. (dpa)