Philips Electronics results rebound

Philips Electronics reported that steady growth from its components and semiconductors division helped the company report surprisingly strong earnings for its third quarter (end-September). In addition, order intake at the company's medical imaging business has picked up.

Philips Electronics has recently been plagued by profitability problems, and the company has announced that it intends to restructure some divisions and divest underperforming units in an effort to get back into the black. The company's third-quarter results reflect progress under way at the company: Philips had revenues of $9.7 billion for the quarter and net income of $736 million, compared with revenues of $8.2 billion and net income of $63.3 million in the third quarter of 1996.

Philips said the improved results were due to high demand in its semiconductor business, as well as a turnaround in profitability at its consumer-products division. Exchange-rate differences also helped the company. Philips did not break out results for its Philips Medical Systems business, but it reported that sales in the Professional Products and Systems unit, of which the medical imaging unit is a part, increased 12%, while orders at the unit showed an upward trend in the third quarter.