Royal Philips NV on Monday reported a swing to net loss for the fourth quarter of last year, on higher costs, but said that it has seen some improvement in the period and is taking actions to address operational challenges in an uncertain environment.
The Dutch health-technology company
PHIA,
PHG,
–which sells products including MRI scanners and ultrasound machines–posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of 106 million euros ($170.6 million) compared with a profit of EUR157 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 and a company-compiled consensus loss of EUR16 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization–which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–was EUR651 million compared with EUR647 million and a consensus of EUR428 million.
The company said its performance was hit by cost inflation that was partly offset by pricing and productivity measures.
Group sales in the period were EUR5.42 billion compared with EUR4.94 billion and a consensus of EUR5.03 billion.
Like-for-like sales were up 3%, compared with a company-compiled forecast for a fall of 5.2%, due to improved component supplies
Royal Philips said it now expects low-single-digit comparable sales growth and high-single-digit adjusted Ebita margin for this year.
“Considering the slowing of consumer demand and a gradual improvement of the order book conversion during 2023, Philips anticipates a slow start to the year, with improvements throughout the year supported by the ongoing productivity, pricing and other actions,” it said.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
Credit: marketwatch.com