The earnings for the three months to end-December were largely in line with a 55.6 billion yen profit estimated on average by eight analysts surveyed by LSEG.

The Kyoto-based firm slashed its full-year operating profit forecast by 18% to 180 billion yen, versus an average forecast of 219.7 billion yen based on estimates from 18 analysts.

($1 = 147.9000 yen)

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Tom Hogue)