Philips to make €500million cost cuts
Royal Philips Electronics has announced it is to make cost cuts of €500million after reporting its biggest loss in almost a decade.
Q2 2011 earnings, before interest, taxes and amotisation, fell to a two year low of €370m from €506m, while a net loss of €1.34billion was booked after writing down the value of assets.
The Amsterdam based company believes the savings will help improve margins from 2013.
Chief executive officer, Frans van Houten, has announced a €2bn share buyback programme and Philips wrote down the value of healthcare and lighting assets. "Our second quarter results were impacted by near term operational challenges, weaker markets and a significant impairment charge," said van Houten.
