Philips issues cautious outlook for 2016January 26, 2016 - 11:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Philips, the Dutch maker of LED lights and medical scanners, on Tuesday, Jan 26, reported core fourth quarter earnings ahead of expectations but issued a cautious outlook for 2016, Reuters reports. The company, which is trying to dispose of its lighting operations, forecast "modest" sales growth of around 2 percent this year, and said it expects improvement only in the second half. Adjusted EBITA, or earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization, came in at 842 million euros ($913 million), compared with 743 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast EBITA of 799 million euros. Comparable sales increased by 2 percent to 7.1 billion euros, Philips said. CEO Frans van Houten said in a statement that the company expects "modest comparable sales growth" this year. "Taking into account ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and the phasing of costs and sales, we expect improvements in the year to be back-end loaded," he said. The company reported a net loss of 39 million euros for the fourth quarter. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |