Canon Australia is deep into financial according to a new report that says profits down under for the camera company have dropped almost 90% since last year. According to Photo Counter, Canon Australia turned a measly profit of $4.1m in 2013 compared to 2012’s $38.6m.
Following this dramatic drop in profits the Australia arm is moving to lay off almost 10% of its staff. It also plans to outsource 100 “administration and back-office support jobs” to business process management firms such as Genpact and Convergys.
As for what the heck happened, it seems to be the result of a collapse in the digital compact market where Canon enjoyed a majority of the market share. Additionally Canon Australia extreme drop in profits could be attributed to problems stemming from Japan.
From the financial report we can see the most dramatic drop comes from “Other Revenue” in which “Dividend Income” drops by $30m. Photo Counter speculates this income may have come directly from Canon Japan and it seems to have dried up last year leaving Australia in a world of hurt. If that’s the case the question is how long has Canon Australia unprofitable and how does this affect the other international segments of the camera company?
See the rest of the financial results after the break.