Shares in Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) took a hit in New York and Amsterdam this morning after the Dutch healthcare giant’s third-quarter profits declined even more than expected.
Philips, which earlier this month predicted net income of €210 million ($233.1 million), today reported profits of €208 million ($230.9 million), or 0.23 per share (56¢). Sales for the three months ended Sept. 30 were €4.702 billion ($5.22 billion), just exceeding its prior guidance for revenues of €4.70 billion. Analysts had been looking for sales of €5.46 billion (about $6.06 billion) ahead of the company’s preliminary earnings release Oct. 10.
“In the third quarter, we delivered mixed results for the group. We recorded strong 6% comparable sales growth, driven by the innovative products and solutions across our businesses. This was reflected in the mid-single-digit comparable sales growth in mature geographies and high-single-digit growth in growth geographies, with double-digit growth in China,” CEO Frans van Houten said in prepared remarks. “Comparable order intake was flat, on the back of strong 11% growth in the third quarter of 2018, reflecting the unevenness of order intake dynamics and softness in North America. Over the last 12 months, comparable order intake grew 5%.”
Philips held fast to its prior guidance for full-year adjusted EBITA growth of 10 to 20 basis points on comparable sales growth of 4% to 6%.
PHG shares were down -4.0% to $42.24 apiece today in pre-market trading; in Amsterdam, PHIA were off -3.2% to €38.41 in mid-day activity.
($1 = €0.900995)