Philips reports second-quarter comparable sales growth of 3% to EUR 5.7 billion; operational results improve by 30% to EUR 530 million

• Comparable sales in growth geographies up 12%, driven by China
• EBITA was EUR 603 million, or 10.7% of sales, and included a EUR 78 million past-service pension cost gain in the US
• EBITA excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and other gains increased to EUR 530 million, or 9.4% of sales
• Net income of EUR 317 million, compared to EUR 102 million in Q2 2012
• Inventories as a percentage of sales at 15.7%, a reduction of 1.5 percentage points compared to Q2 2012
• EUR 2 billion share buy-back program completed

 
Frans van Houten, CEO:
 
“We are pleased that in the second quarter our operational results improved year-on-year for the fifth quarter in a row and sales grew by 3% in a challenging economic environment, thanks to our highly engaged employees. The Accelerate! transformation program continues to drive performance improvement, resulting in a better product portfolio, higher gross margins, faster time to market, reduced inventory levels and a structurally lower cost base.
 
At Healthcare, order intake grew by 7%, supported by new product launches and significant customer wins. Sales were flat year-on-year, due to the weaker order intake growth in the previous quarters in the United States and Europe. Comparable sales at Consumer Lifestyle increased an impressive 13%, as locally relevant product launches and better operational execution helped to drive growth. At Lighting, all businesses delivered better operational results. We continued to see strong traction in LED, with LED-based sales growing 28% over the previous year.
 
Looking ahead to the second half of 2013, we are concerned about economic uncertainties around the world; however, we remain committed to reach our financial targets this year.”
 
Q2 financials: Results improve across all sectors. Strong growth at Consumer Lifestyle, modest growth at Lighting, Healthcare order intake up by 7%.
 
Healthcare currency-comparable equipment order intake increased by 7% year-on-year, with both Imaging Systems and Patient Care & Clinical Informatics showing growth. Comparable sales were flat year-on-year as the growth at Customer Services, Patient Care & Clinical Informatics and Home Healthcare Solutions was offset by a decline at Imaging Systems due to soft order intake in the previous quarters. In growth geographies, comparable sales showed a double-digit increase. EBITA margin excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and the past-service pension cost gain in the US increased by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year to 14.3%.
 
Consumer Lifestyle comparable sales increased by 13%, driven by good growth in all businesses, i.e. Domestic Appliances, Personal Care, as well as Health & Wellness. In growth geographies, comparable sales showed a strong double-digit increase. EBITA margin excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and the past-service pension cost gain in the US increased to 7.8%, a year-on-year improvement of 2.8 percentage points.
 
Lighting comparable sales increased by 2%, led by Automotive, Lumileds and Consumer Luminaires. LED-based sales grew by 28%, representing 25% of total Lighting sales. In growth geographies, comparable sales showed a double-digit increase. EBITA margin excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and the past-service pension cost gain in the US was 8.1%, a year-on-year improvement of 2.4 percentage points.
 
We have completed the EUR 2 billion share buy-back program that started in July 2011.

Accelerate! is driving performance improvement
 
Now in its third year, our change and performance improvement program Accelerate! continues to drive better results across the organization. The program, which runs through 2017, has five streams to enhance customer relevance, change company culture, reduce overhead costs, streamline our End2End customer value chains, and reallocate resources to profitable growth opportunities.
 
In the second quarter, Accelerate! initiatives to enhance customer relevance resulted in encouraging success in our markets. For example, we established an innovative alliance with Georgia Regents Medical Center, through which Philips will provide a comprehensive range of consulting services, advanced medical technologies, and operational performance, planning and maintenance services with pre-determined monthly operational costs over a 15-year term.
 
At Domestic Appliances, we have leveraged our Povos acquisition to make locally relevant and successful products, such as the Noodle Maker in China and the Multicooker in Russia. And underlining our leadership in innovative, energy efficient lighting, we installed new lighting systems in Brazil and at The Change Initiative’s retail space in Dubai, supporting its claim that it is the most sustainable commercial building in the world.
 
Over 1,200 senior leaders and 600 middle managers have participated in change programs to create a high-performance culture. Additionally, more than 1,300 people have received specialized Lean training to drive End2End transformation of customer value chains. Our overhead cost reduction program has resulted in EUR 673 million total gross savings to date, including EUR 202 million realized in the first half of 2013. In the quarter, we reduced inventory by 1.5 percentage points of sales year-on-year.