Philips reports ‘strong’ sales figures

Philips has announced its financial figures for the second quarter of the 2008 fiscal year, with the firm reporting robust sales figures and an increase in earnings.

The company announced a six per cent year-on-year rise in sales to 6.5 billion euros (5.2 billion pounds), with this increase driven by growth of 16 per cent in emerging markets.

EBITA rose to 413 million euros, up from 386 million euros in the same quarter last year, while the company reported a strong contribution to its results from its recent home healthcare solutions acquisition.

Net income for the period was 720 million euros, including an impairment charge of 299 million euros for NXP and a gain of 780 million on the sale of shares in TSMC.

Gerard Kleisterlee, president and chief executive officer of Royal Philips Electronics, said: “Our second quarter results are a reflection of both the quality and the resilience of our overall business portfolio in a rapidly deteriorating macro-economic environment.”

He added that the home healthcare solutions and patient monitoring and clinical care systems segments posted strong results and while imaging systems reported lower results it increased its order book backlog with an improved product mix.

In December 2007, Philips Healthcare signed a merger agreement with clinical IT and service provider Visicu.