Philips Sees 2002 as a Turnaround Year --- CEO Says Restructuring May Save Three Times Firm's Early Projection
EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands -- The head of Philips Electronics NV is aiming to make 2002 a lot better than 2001.</br></br>Europe's largest consumer-electronics company suffered like many others from the global economic downturn and a plunge in consumer spending that worsened after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. Next month, the company is expected to report its first full-year loss in nearly a decade. Its stock has lost 15% of its value over the past 52 weeks, closing yesterday at 33.60 euros.</br></br>But Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee intends to revive Philips, partly with a restructuring that he says will save the company several times what it expected to save when announcing the plan in November.</br></br>"Philips has not grown in the past 10 years," he said in an interview, "and my aim in the New Year is to stop this decline."</br></br>For starters, he said, the restructuring planned for this year -- which aims to curb costs and cut about 12,000 jobs -- could save the company as much as one billion euros ($895 million) a year, compared with the 300 million euros initially projected. Mr. Kleisterlee said additional job reductions are in the works, and that Philips is looking for a buyer for its contract-manufacturing services business, which analysts figure could fetch as much as 800 million euros.