Philips booked net profit of €875m in the first three months of this year, compared with €160m in the same 2006 period, boosted by an extraordinary gain from the sale of shares in TSMC.

Group sales rose 3% to €5.99bn. Earnings were higher than analysts had expected, news wires said.
Turnover in the consumer electronics division fell 6% to €2.21bn as the price of flat-screen televisions fell sharply. But operating profit was up by €1m at €34m, when analysts had forecast a fall of €1m.
The domestic appliance unit more than doubled operating profit to €107m. Analysts had forecast Q1 operating profit of €69m.