Philips books 8% rise in Q3 net profit

Electronics giant Philips booked net profit of €357m in the third quarter of 2008, an 8% rise on the year-earlier period. Total sales were down 2% to €6.3bn.

Earnings were boosted by €302m booked on the sale of its remaining stake in Taiwan chip maker TSMC. But Philips also took a one-off charge to settle an asbestos-related court case in the US.
‘While Philips too cannot isolate itself from increasingly adverse economic circumstances, it is encouraging to see that the portfolio we have built over the past few years does indeed show the resilience we expected from it,’ CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said in a statement.
Despite the economic crisis, Philips said it is maintaining its earlier forecast and would embark upon a €230m restructuring programme to keep earnings on an even keel, the Volkskrant reported.
CF0 Pierre-Jean Sivignon declined to tell the paper if this meant jobs are at risk.