(CercleFinance.com) – Philips on Monday announced higher and better-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks in particular to the standardization of its supply chain, and unveiled a plan intended to create value through a simplified operating structure.
The Dutch group says it has generated an operating profit of 171 million euros over the last three months of 2022, against 162 million euros a year earlier.
Its adjusted profit from ordinary activities (EBITA) amounted to 651 million euros, compared with 647 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Its turnover amounted to 5.4 billion euros, representing like-for-like growth of 3%.
On the occasion of the publication of these quarterly results, better than expected, the new CEO, Roy Jakobs, presented a strategic plan based on organic growth and a more ‘agile’ operating model.
The medical equipment manufacturer, which had already announced 4,000 job cuts last October, is thus planning 6,000 new layoffs by 2025.
It currently has a staff of 77,000 people.
For 2023, Philips expects to generate like-for-like sales growth of 0% to 5% for an adjusted EBITA margin of 5% to 10%. The latter stood at 7.4% last year.
All these announcements pushed the stock up 5.2% on Monday morning, the biggest increase of an AEX index which lost around 1%. The stock is thus heading back towards its best levels since last fall.