Philips to cut 6,000 more jobs

Electronics giant Philips today announced 6,000 job losses in its operations around the world.

The Dutch-based company reported fourth-quarter loss of almost £1.5bn (€1.6bn) blaming weak global economic conditions.

The job cuts at Philips, one of the biggest makers of medical equipment and consumer electronics, come on top of 7,000 cuts in the fourth quarter.

It is understood operations in Ireland will nott be affected by the losses.

Philips employs 110 sales, marketing and distribution staff in Ireland, as well as 50 in the North.

The electronics company employs 121,000 people around the world.

“The development of our quarterly results reflects the unprecedented speed and ferocity with which the economy softened in 2008,” Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee said.

The results “are definitely not good enough to suggest that Philips can steer clear from the weak overall economy, but they are not so bad as to suggest that Philips is in any serious trouble,” said analyst Eric de Graaf of Petercam Securities in a note on the earnings. He repeated an “add” rating on the shares.