Philips profit plummets by two-thirds

In the fourth quarter of 2014, Philips' profit decreased by two thirds. The electronic company from Eindhoven suffered from disappointing sales in the healthcare market and in China and Russia. This is evident from figures that Philips published today. The net profit for the company between October and December amounted to 134 million euros. In the same period of 2013, that figure was 412 million euros. The turnover increased by two percent to 6.54 billion euros. However, the increase was due to additional sales from last year acquired businesses and a favorable exchange rate. Without taking those into account, the turnover decresed by two percent. According to CEO Frans van Houten, the fourth quarter was typical of the "challenging" year 2014. The company posted a profit of only 411 million euros for the entire year. In 2013 that figure was 1.2 billion euros. It has been clear that Philips annual figures would be disappointing since the company issued a profit warning earlier this month. Sales at the two main branches, health and light, decreased by three percent. Only the consumer product division, Consumer Lifestyle, showed an increase of 6 percent.