Nikon drops to five-week low after China consumer show criticism

(Reuters) – Shares in Nikon Corp shed 4.2 percent to a five-week low of 1,686 yen on Monday morning after it was criticized by a Chinese consumer show that said the camera maker had sold defective products in China and denied local consumers fair treatment in after-sales service.

Nikon, which had sales of 118 billion yen ($1.16 billion) in China in 2013, said on Sunday that it was taking the report “very seriously” and had moved to improve its after-sales network in China, according to its official microblogging sites.

Criticism in Chinese state media can have a long-lasting impact, particularly in cases of corruption and food safety scandals, which have hit some firms over the last year including French food maker Danone SA to British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

($1 = 101.4650 Japanese Yen)

(Reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)