THE HAGUE: Philips had an increase of revenue and profit in 2015, the Dutch electronics giant announced here the other day.
In the full year 2015, Philips posted sales of 24.244 billion euros (26.256 billion U.S. dollars), compared to 21.391 in 2014, mainly driven by growth in the HealthTech department. Adjusted for currency impacts and consolidation charges, sales were 2 percent higher year-on-year. Net income rose from 411 million euros in 2014 to 659 in 2015.
In the fourth quarter of 2015 Philips had a net loss of 39 million euros, compared to a gain of 134 million euros in the same period in the previous year. This loss was impacted by one-time charges including pension de-risking settlement costs, and higher financial expenses and income tax charges. Sales amounted to 7.095 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to 6.536 billion euros in Q4 of 2014.
“The fourth quarter of 2015 was another quarter in which Philips delivered year-on-year operational improvements,” CEO Frans van Houten commented in a press release. “Overall, 2015 was a solid year for Philips, as illustrated by consistent performance improvements in the face of ongoing challenging macroeconomic circumstances.”
“For 2016, we continue to expect modest comparable sales growth and we will build on our 2015 operational performance improvement,” the CEO added. “Taking into account ongoing macro-economic headwinds and the phasing of costs and sales, we expect improvements in the year to be back-end loaded.”
On Friday last week, Philips made public that the sale of combined LED components and automotive lighting business Lumileds to Chinese investor GO Scale Capital, which would acquire an 80.1 percent interest, will not go through. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) did not grant regulatory clearance for the transaction.
“I am very disappointed about this outcome as this was a very good deal for both Lumileds and the GO Scale Capital-led consortium,” Van Houten said. “We will now engage with other parties that have expressed an interest in exploring strategic options for Lumileds to pursue more growth and scale.”
