Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Horiba Ltd., the world’s largest maker of instruments that measure automobile emissions, will seek to increase sales of blood analyzers and other medical equipment to reduce its reliance on the car industry.

“We are considering a change in our business portfolio,” President Atsushi Horiba said yesterday in an interview after the Kyoto-based company announced a drop in first-half net income and forecast a 82 percent profit decline for the full year.

Revenue from automotive-testing systems, which is the company’s largest business and accounts for almost 40 percent of sales, plunged 24 percent to 18.4 billion yen ($193 million) in the first six months of the year because of the global recession and the stronger yen, according to a statement. Meanwhile, operating profit from medical-related products such as blood analyzers surged more than seven-fold in the period.

“The automotive sector had been contributing to our business, but we are struggling because of it,” Horiba, 61, said. “It’s quite difficult for us to maintain growth if we rely too much on a single segment.”

Horiba, whose father established the company in 1953, said he targets increasing the medical-equipment business to about 30 percent of sales in three years, up from about 20 percent now, by expanding product lines.

“We can do this by building on our core technology of analyzing instruments,” he said. “Eventually, we can be recognized as a medical equipment maker.”

Shares of Horiba, up 70 percent this year, fell the most in almost seven months in Tokyo trading after the company announced the cut in its full-year profit forecast after markets closed yesterday.

The stock closed 8.3 percent lower to 2,100 yen as of 3 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the biggest decline since Jan. 13

Net income for the 12 months ending Dec. 31 is forecast at 1.1 billion yen, down from 6.04 billion yen a year earlier, and 27 percent less than the previous estimate, Horiba said. Profit fell 61 percent to 1.02 billion yen in the first half, as sales plunged 24 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Masatsugu Horie in Osaka at mhorie3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 5, 2009 02:34 EDT