Philips sees no semiconductor upturn, consumer weakness

Profits at Royal Philips Electronics NV (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) were buoyed by the sale of shares in Navteq Corp., which yielded a non-taxable gain of 753 million euro (about $908 million). Without that the companys sales would have reduced and the company said weak consumer spending in Europe and a slowing economic environment around the world, made the company cautious for the future.

Philips made a net income of 983 million euros (about $1.18 billion) in the second quarter on revenues of 7.09 billion euros (about $8.54 billion) down 3 percent on the same quarter a year before.

Net profit rose to 983 million euros (about $1.18 billion) in the second quarter, up from 616 million euros a year earlier, but the company said the rise was entirely attributable to the sale of its shares in navigation systems company Navteq Corp. for 753 million euros (about $906.4 million).

In the semiconductor sector, sales were sequentially higher by 3 percent in dollar terms. The company said it expected a further increase in single-digit percentage growth in dollar terms in the third quarter of 2005. The companys semiconductor manufacturing capacity utilization rate improved slightly from 75 percent to 77 percent.

For Semiconductors [division] we do not expect to see any significant upturn in market conditions in the short term, the company said in a statement. Semiconductor sales were 6 percent lower than in the same quarter a year before at 1.09 billion euro (about $1.31 billion).