TOKYO—Hoya Corp. (TSE: 7741) announced preliminary and unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009. Net sales were 94.9 billion yen for the quarter, a 27.0 percent decrease from 130.1 billion yen in the same period last year, and operating income was 9.2 billion yen, a 57.5 percent decrease from 21.8 billion yen in the same period last year, mainly due to order decrease and the impact of exchange rates. However, Hoya said that since April there has been a degree of recovery noted in orders, which resulted in an increase of both net sales and operating income compared to the fourth quarter FY 2009 ended March 31, 2009.

Net income for the first quarter was down 81.8 percent, to 3.8 billion yen. Earnings per share for the quarter were 8.90 yen compared with 48.97 yen in the same period last year.

In Hoya’s vision care section, which produces ophthalmic lenses, first quarter net sales totalled 25,628 million yen, down 17.1 percent from year-ago. In Hoya’s health care section, which produces contact lenses, first quarter net sales totalled 12,908 million yen, up 4.4 percent from year ago.

Hiroshi Hamada, chief operating officer of Hoya, said that despite the overall decline in net sales during the first quarter, “we see a sign of turnaround in many business units such as optical glass and Pentax camera compared to the preceding quarter.”

For the first six months of FY 2010 ending Sept. 30, 2009, Hoya forecasts net sales of 195.0 billion yen (down 24.6 percent compared to 258.5 billion yen in the same period previous year), operating income of 24.0 billion yen (down 43.5 percent compared to 42.4 billion yen in the same period previous year) and net income of 13.5 billion yen (down 66.5 percent compared to 40.3 billion yen in the same period the previous year.)