Royal Philips Electronics today said it will cut 6,000 jobs across the globe and its net loss for the fourth quarter ended December 31 stood at euro 1,470 million due to lower gains on stake sale.
"The biggest electronics consumer group of Europe would eliminate 6,000 jobs around the world," Bloomberg said.
However, the company said in a statement that during the quarter the number of employees had declined by 6,613 due to both seasonal and restructuring-driven personnel reduction.
The net loss is reportedly the first ever of the diversified conglomerate since 2003. However, the company had a net income of euro 1,398 million in the same quarter last year.
"Our fourth-quarter results are a reflection of both the severe impact of the global financial and economic crises and the decisive actions taken by management," Royal Philips Electronics President and CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said.
Financial income and expenses declined due to lower gains on the sale of stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and euro 1.3 billion impairment charges related to NXP (semiconductor company founded by Philips), LG Display, Toppoly and Pace Micro Technology, the release said.
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Sales of the company declined to euro 7,623 million for the quarter under review, while the corresponding figure was euro 8,365 million for the same quarter last year.
"The development of our quarterly results reflects the unprecedented speed and ferocity with which the economy softened in 2008. This prevents us from looking too far into the future," Kleisterlee added.
Further, anticipating this environment, Kleisterlee said, "We proactively extended our restructuring plans and sharpened our cash management."