Philips finishes strong in 2020

On the heels of a healthy Q3 report, Philips has ended 2020 on a high note. The medtech expert managed just over 6 billion euros in sales, which is a 7 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year. For the year, sales increased 3 percent, totaling 19.5 billion euros. Q4 orders also rose 7 percent, year on year. While the Amsterdam-based company’s quarterly net income reached 607 million euros, up from the 556 million it raked in during Q4 2019, annual total income from operations dipped to 1.542 billion in 2020 from the 1.644 billion mark it reached in 2019.

Despite the strong finish to the year, the lingering uncertainty brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic has Philips approaching 2021 projections with caution. “I’m pleased that in the quarter, we recorded 7 percent comparable sales growth for the group and 7 percent comparable order intake growth,” says Philips CEO Frans van Houten. “Looking ahead, we continue to see uncertainty related to the impact of Covid-19 across the world. For 2021, Philips plans to deliver low-single-digit comparable sales growth, driven by solid growth in diagnosis & treatment and personal health, partly offset by lower connected care sales.”