Philips published its results for the fourth quarter and for the full year 2014. In Q4 comparable sales declined 2% and adjusted EBITA amounted to 743 million euro, or 11.4% of sales, compared to 12.9% in Q4 2013 (EBITA amounted to 262 million euro, impacted by restructuring costs and other items, compared to 789 million euro in Q4 2013). Besides, net income registered 134 million euro compared to 412 million euro in the final quarter of 2013 and free cash flow improved to 559 million euro from 481 million in the same period of 2013. As regards to the full year 2014, comparable sales declined 1% to 21.4 billion euro. EBITA, excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and other items, amounted to 1.9 billion euro, or 9% of sales. EBITA amounted to 821 million euro, or 3.8% of sales, compared to 2.3 billion, or 10.4% of sales, in 2013. Net income totaled 411 million euro, compared to 1.2 billion in 2013. Finally, free cash flow improved to 497 million euro, compared to 82 million euro in 2013. “The fourth quarter underscored a challenging 2014 for Philips – said Frans van Houten, CEO of the company -. Our transformation efforts continued to show good results, even as we addressed performance issues, ongoing softness in end-markets like China and Russia, and stronger than anticipated foreign exchange impacts, particularly in emerging markets”.
