LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.--April 27, 2005-- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. and a leader in imaging technologies, today announced Canon Inc. first-quarter 2005 consolidated net sales of 843.4 billion yen (US$ 7,882 million), which represents a year-over-year increase of 5.7% over first-quarter 2004. Canon reported first-quarter net income of 93.1 billion yen (US$ 870 million), which represents a year-over-year increase of 10.4% and basic earnings per share of 104.93 yen (US$ 0.98). Operating profit also advanced, improving 7.3% over first-quarter 2004. "The increase in net sales was due to strong sales of color copying machines and color laser beam printers as demand for office color has increased and stable sales of digital cameras.," said Toshizo Tanaka, Senior Managing Director and Group Executive for Finance and Accounting Headquarters, Canon Inc. Mr. Tanaka added, "Although a difficult environment is expected in the second quarter and for the full year, we expect to exceed our sales and profit results of last year and achieve our sixth consecutive year of sales and profit growth."