Philips surprises with Ôé¼44 million profit

Royal Philips Electronics NV, EuropeÔÇÖs largest maker of consumer electronics, has surprised analysts by announcing a second-quarter net profit of Ôé¼44 million. Analysts had been predicting the Amsterdam-based electronics company to make a loss of up to Ôé¼123 million, but net profits for the quarter were up, mainly due to an aggressive cost-saving programme.  Insurance recoveries of around Ôé¼80 million and legal settlements totalling Ôé¼46 million were also said to play a large part in the companyÔÇÖs results. Earnings, which before interest, taxes and amortisation came in at Ôé¼118 million, were 70 per cent down from last year due to weak consumer demand, but still resulted in a profit for the company.  Philips has said it expects the second half of 2009 to see a further improvement in earnings. Gerard Kleisterlee, president and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics, said in a statement: ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm especially pleased that our rigorous focus on cash is increasingly paying off, highlighted by the fact that cash inflow from operations in the second quarter more than doubled due to lower working capital requirements.  ÔÇ£At the same time we continued making strategic investments to strengthen our company for the medium and long term. ÔÇ£We remain cautious about the overall economy and the markets weÔÇÖre operating in and will not shy away from implementing further cost measures where needed.ÔÇØ *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *