18 Oct 2011

Job cuts at Phillips

11:48 am on 18 October 2011

Philips will cut 4500 jobs after reporting a sharp fall in third-quarter profits.

The Dutch lighting and consumer electronics group made $US103 million in the three months to September, a decrease of 86% compared with the same period a year ago.

Quarterly revenues declined by 1.3% to 5.4 billion euros.

Philips has issued two profit warnings in the past seven months. It blames the plunge on lower margins, falling sales and a loss at its TV division.

Chief executive Frans van Houten says the job losses are regrettable, but necessary.

Philips also says talks with Hong Kong-based TPV Technology over the sale of a 70% stake in its television business are taking longer than expected.

Philips share price has fallen 40% over the past year, with the company struggling to compete with lower-cost Asian rivals.