Dutch electronics giant Philips made a net profit of €176m in the third quarter of this year, treble the profit reported for the same period last year.
The result was better than anticipated by analysts, who had predicted a net loss of €45m.
Sales stood at €5.6 billion in the third quarter, down 11% from €6.3 billion in the same period last year, but an improvement from the 19% decline in the second quarter.
Philips chief executive officer Gerard Kleisterlee said most of the company's business divisions reported improvements in sales and earnings compared with the previous quarter.
Philips announced in January that it would cut 6,000 jobs worldwide to cope with the global slowdown.
