Nikon reported its largest annual loss ever

Nikon posted its worst annual loss for the fiscal year that ended March 31, with losses mostly tied to its industrial 3D printing business, while the company said its overall revenue decline was mainly due to lower sales in its chip- and display-making equipment business.

Nikon brought in ¥677.1 billion during the year, down 5.3% from the previous year, according to its latest financial report released last week.

After costs and major write-downs, the company ended with a net loss of ¥86 billion. Its operating loss, which measures business performance before some taxes and other items, was larger at ¥112.4 billion.

Nikon said much of the loss came from ¥90.6 billion in write-downs tied to its Digital Manufacturing Business, which includes industrial metal 3D printers. Simply put, Nikon reduced the value of parts of that business after deciding they were unlikely to grow as much as expected.

That division posted an operating loss of ¥106.2 billion for the year, even as revenue grew more than 20% to ¥28 billion.

The company said demand for large-format metal 3D printers continued to grow in defense and space markets, where it recorded record quarterly sales. But Nikon also said the broader metal 3D printer market had flattened as competition intensified.

For photographers and artists, the good news is that Nikon’s camera business stayed profitable and did not collapse.

Nikon’s Imaging Products Business, which includes mirrorless cameras, lenses and cinema equipment, generated ¥290 billion in revenue and ¥16.7 billion in profit from its operations.

That profit was down sharply from ¥41.3 billion a year earlier. Nikon pointed to tariffs, heavier promotional spending, changes in product types customers were buying, lower average selling prices, and stronger competition. The company said tariffs alone reduced profit by ¥6.8 billion.

New cameras helped soften the fall. Nikon said sales grew for the Z5II and Z50II mirrorless cameras, as well as the ZR, its first digital cinema camera using technology from RED. Nikon acquired RED in 2024, giving it a larger foothold in professional filmmaking and video production.

Nikon shipped 910,000 interchangeable-lens digital cameras during the fiscal year, up from 850,000 the year before. The broader market also grew slightly to 7.04 million units from 6.72 million. Interchangeable lens sales were essentially flat for Nikon at about 1.3 million units.

Nikon’s forecast suggests pressure on its imaging business will continue. The company expects imaging revenue to rise next year to ¥303 billion but expects profit to slip slightly to ¥16 billion. Nikon cited higher memory prices, changing logistics costs, and shifting consumer sentiment as risks for the next fiscal year.

Nikon’s Precision Equipment Business, which makes industrial lithography systems for chip and flat-panel display manufacturing, also had a tough year.

Revenue fell 17.2% to ¥167.2 billion, and the division posted an operating loss of ¥4.5 billion. Nikon said sales of some systems declined and the segment absorbed ¥5.7 billion in fixed-asset write-downs.

Nikon cut its annual dividend from ¥50 to ¥40 per share.

The company said it expects to return to profit in the fiscal year ending March 2027, forecasting ¥740 billion in revenue and ¥10 billion in operating profit. Nikon said the rebound would depend partly on semiconductor-related growth, healthcare recovery and reduced losses in digital manufacturing.

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