Philips reports 94 per cent fall in second quarter profit

Philips reports 94 per cent fall in second quarter profit Amsterdam  - Royal Philips Electronics NV made a net profit of 45 million euros (62.55 million dollars), the Dutch corporation said in its second quarter report released on Monday.

In the same period last year, the company reported a net profit of 732 million euros. Analysts had predicted a small second-quarter loss for Europe's largest consumer electronics manufacturer this year.

The corporation said the 94 per cent drop in net profit was caused by reduced demand for its products.

Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization fell 70 per cent to 118 million euros and turnover fell 19 per cent to 5.23 billion euros.

Philips said it expected to do better during the second half of this year than it during the first six months as a result of a large- scale cost saving operation.

The cutting of some 9,000 jobs, Philips said, should be sufficient to achieve its goal of saving some 500 million euros by the end of the year.

The corporation expects to save an extra 100 million euros per year starting in 2010, Philips Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Jean Sivignon said in a statement.

By 9:45 am (0745 GMT) Monday, Philips share value rose 4.5 per cent and stood at 15.54 euros per share on the Amsterdam stock exchange. (dpa)