TV deal should boost Philips’ earnings

Article Excerpt

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. ADRs $23 (New York symbol PHG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $23.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.philips.com) is transferring its struggling television manufacturing operations to a new joint venture with Hong Kong-based TPV Technology. The company will own 30% of this joint venture, which will make TV sets under the Philips brand. Philips expects to close the deal by the end of 2011. The company earned 0.14 euros per ADR in the three months ended March 31, 2011 (1 euro = $1.40 Canadian; each American Depositary Receipt represents one Philips common share.) That’s down 36.4% from 0.22 euros per ADR a year earlier, mainly due to the losses at the TV operations. Sales rose 5.5% in the quarter, to 5.3 billion euros from 5.0 billion euros. All three of Philips’ businesses contributed to the higher sales: health-care equipment (up 8.2%), lighting (up 5.1%), and consumer…