Canon CEO says sees signs of business bottoming out

TOKYO May 25 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Japan's Canon Inc (7751.T) said its business performance has been better than it expected in recent months, with stimulus steps by governments around the globe starting to take effect gradually.

Canon's performance "has been considerably better than originally anticipated in March and April", CEO Fujio Mitarai told reporters in a regular news conference as head of Japan's biggest business lobby, Nippon Keidanren.

"In China and some other parts of Asia, we even achieved year-on-year growth."

The government raised its assessment of Japan's economy for the first time in three years on Monday, saying the pace of worsening is slowing as exports and industrial output are nearing bottom.

Shares in Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker and a major supplier of copiers and printers, closed up 1.6 percent at 3,220 yen, slightly outperforming the Nikkei average .N225, which gained 1.3 percent. (Reporting by Kentaro Hamada and Risa Maeda)