Philips Medical announces ‘strong profits’

Philips Medical has announced a “strong” set of quarterly results, characterised by increasing sales and operating capital.

In addition, the company has increased its workforce to 31,261, with over 2,000 based in the UK.

Sales were driven by growth in almost all areas of business, including PET and CT scanners, digital tomography and X-ray systems. Philips also said its healthcare informatics division “grew strongly” through orders for the iSite PACS system.

The company is on course to achieve high single-digit sales growth in 2006, although its fourth quarter results could be impacted by the one-off acquisition charges related to the purchase of Intermagnetics, a scanning technology company.

Gerard Kleisterlee, president and chief executive of Philips, remarked: “We had an excellent second quarter to round off a good first half year.

“We continued to expand our presence in the growing healthcare market, announcing our intention to acquire Intermagnetics, General Corporation and Avent Holdings, while disposing of more non-core activities during the quarter, he added.

Mr Kleisterlee concluded: “Going forward, our increasingly focused business scope will serve as an asset.”

The acquisition of Intermagnetics was motivated by a belief that magnetic resonance imaging technology would become an increasingly important technology in the future, thereby positioning Philips Medical to take advantage.

Philips bought Intermagetics for 701 million pounds and has reserved a further 58 million towards the costs of integrating the company.

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