Dutch electronic group Philips has said it is cautious about the outlook for the first half of 2005 given 'mixed' economic signals.
The warning follows a strong year for the company which increased net profit strongly in 2004 from the sales of stakes in other companies such as ASM Lithography, Vivendi and Atos Origin.
Philips, which makes light-bulbs, televisions, semiconductors and medical equipment, saw its net profit grow more than four-fold to €6.84 billion from €695m in 2003. During the same period sales grew 4% to €30.3 billion. Excluding the negative impact of currency fluctuations, the increase would have been 9%.
For the final quarter of 2004, the company reported a net profit of €498m, falling from €598m in the final
quarter of 2003 due to a number of once-off charges at its medical systems division.
