Philips reported that sales and profit were lower in the first quarter of 2014 compared to last year’s.
Net income was 137 million Euros, 15 percent down. The 5 billion Euros in sales also meant a decline of 4.5 percent.
CEO Frans van Houten comments: "Our first-quarter financial results reflect a challenging start of the year. Significant currency impact, market headwinds in, among others, China and Russia, and a the business impact of the voluntary suspension at our healthcare production facility in Cleveland resulted in flat comparable sales growth and a decline in EBITA as a percentage of sales of 130 basis points. We recorded a lower level of profitability at Healthcare, whereas Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle continued to deliver a year-on-year operational margin improvement."
At Lighting, LED-based sales grew by 37 percent, compared to 2013.
