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| Philips sees booming LED lighting sales | Philips sees booming LED lighting sales |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Philips, the world's biggest lighting maker, has reported a 38% jump in first quarter LED sales from a year earlier. | Philips, the world's biggest lighting maker, has reported a 38% jump in first quarter LED sales from a year earlier. |
| The pricey but long-life and energy-efficient bulbs now represent 23% of its lighting sales. | The pricey but long-life and energy-efficient bulbs now represent 23% of its lighting sales. |
| The Dutch healthcare and consumer appliances group said it made 162m euros ($211m; £139m) in the first three months of the year. | |
| Appliances sales were up 10% from a year earlier, but other parts of the business were stagnant. | Appliances sales were up 10% from a year earlier, but other parts of the business were stagnant. |
| "What we have seen in the first quarter is a slow start to of the year, with 1% sales growth in the world," chief executive Frans van Houten said. "That, of course, is not very exciting." | |
| Sales in the US and Europe remained tepid. "We can also see that China is in a slower growth situation than one or two years ago," he told BBC World Business Report. | |
| Nonetheless, Philips said in its statement that the firm was still on course to meet its targets for the year as a whole. | |
| Healthcare sales fell at an underlying rate of 1% from a year earlier, while overall lighting sales were flat due to weak demand from the construction sector. | Healthcare sales fell at an underlying rate of 1% from a year earlier, while overall lighting sales were flat due to weak demand from the construction sector. |
| Mr van Houten said that hospital chief executives in the US are currently being very careful with capital spending due to regulatory reforms. | |
| One of the parts of the business to do better was its home entertainment division, as losses on its TV sales declined, pushing the unit back into an 8m-euro profit. Philips agreed in January to sell that division to Japan's Funai Electric for 150m euros. | One of the parts of the business to do better was its home entertainment division, as losses on its TV sales declined, pushing the unit back into an 8m-euro profit. Philips agreed in January to sell that division to Japan's Funai Electric for 150m euros. |
| The company wants to focus on its healthcare, light bulbs and home appliances businesses as part of its "Accelerate!" restructuring plan. | The company wants to focus on its healthcare, light bulbs and home appliances businesses as part of its "Accelerate!" restructuring plan. |
| "We see another opportunity for a billion-euro improvement... by making products that are more competitive," Mr van Houten told the BBC. | |
| He said that the firm could do this by designing products that use fewer expensive raw materials. | |
| The group's profit for the quarter somewhat beat market expectations, and represents a rebound from a sizeable loss in the previous three-month period. | The group's profit for the quarter somewhat beat market expectations, and represents a rebound from a sizeable loss in the previous three-month period. |
| However, income from its continuing operations - excluding its soon-to-be-divested home entertainment division - was down about a quarter from the same period a year earlier. | |
| Philips is looking to boost growth by increasing innovation. On Saturday, the firm announced a new partnership with Swedish medical group Elekta and the Netherlands Cancer Institute to develop new MRI scanners that can be used to guide targeted radiotherapy. | Philips is looking to boost growth by increasing innovation. On Saturday, the firm announced a new partnership with Swedish medical group Elekta and the Netherlands Cancer Institute to develop new MRI scanners that can be used to guide targeted radiotherapy. |
| "We think that minimal invasive treatment is the future for surgery," said Mr van Houten. | |
| Earlier this month, Philips' lighting division unveiled a prototype LED strip light that would be twice as energy efficient as existing fluorescent lighting used in offices. | Earlier this month, Philips' lighting division unveiled a prototype LED strip light that would be twice as energy efficient as existing fluorescent lighting used in offices. |