Philips is cutting 4,500 jobs worldwide in an effort to make savings of €800m, the electronics giant said at the presentation of its third quarter results on Monday.

Some 1,400 jobs will go in the Netherlands between now and 2014, Philips said in a statement. The jobs will account for 60% of the savings package.
The losses are ‘a regrettable but inevitable step to improve our operating model to become more agile, lean and competitive,’ CEO Frans van Houten said.
Philips booked operating profit of €368m in the third quarter, compared with €674m in the year earlier period. Net profit plunged from €524m to €76m.
The company is maintaining its earlier mid-term financial targets of sales growth of between 4% and 6%.