Philips reports strong profit rise in Q4

Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world's biggest lighting maker, says net profit rose 79 percent in the fourth quarter as the company reaped the benefits of cost-cutting and its margins improved.

The company says it had net profit of euro465 million ($632 million) or euro0.49 per share, up from euro260 million in the same period a year ago. It says sales rose 1.6% to euro7.39 billion from a year ago - but they would have fallen without the impact of currency effects.

Philips said its lighting sales, which were about flat from a year ago, benefited from strong Asian and U.S. markets, but suffered from poor demand in Western Europe.