Jan 24, 2022
Philips delivers Q4 sales of EUR 4.9 billion and income from continuing operations of EUR 139 million; Adjusted EBITA margin amounts to 13.1%, and operating cash flow is EUR 720 million; good demand drives mid-single-digit order intake growth
Fourth-quarter highlights Group sales amounted to EUR 4.9 billion, with a 10% comparable sales decline
Comparable order intake increased 4%, driven by double-digit growth in the Diagnosis & Treatment businesses
Income from continuing operations amounted to EUR 139 million and included an impact of EUR 220 million related to the addition to the Respironics field action provision; income from continuing operations was EUR 508 million in Q4 2020 Adjusted EBITA of EUR 647 million, or 13.1% of sales, compared to EUR 995 million, or 19.0% of sales, in Q4 2020 Operating cash flow was EUR 720 million, resulting in a free cash flow of EUR 519 million
Full-year highlights Group sales amounted to EUR 17.2 billion, with high-single-digit comparable sales growth in the Diagnosis & Treatment and Personal Health businesses, offset by a decline in the Connected Care businesses, resulting in a 1% comparable sales decline
Comparable order intake increased 4%, driven by double-digit growth in the Diagnosis & Treatment businesses
Income from continuing operations was EUR 612 million and included an impact of EUR 719 million related to the Respironics field action provision; income from continuing operations was EUR 999 million in 2020
Adjusted EBITA of EUR 2,054 million, or 12.0% of sales, compared to EUR 2,277 million, or 13.2% of sales, in 2020
Operating cash flow was EUR 1,629 million, resulting in a free cash flow of EUR 900 million
Proposed dividend maintained at EUR 0.85 per share, in cash or shares at the option of the shareholder
Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips: “In the fourth quarter, we recorded EUR 4.9 billion sales, reflecting a 10% comparable sales decline, with an Adjusted EBITA margin of 13.1%. As we announced on January 12, 2022, sales were impacted by several headwinds, namely supply chain challenges, postponement of equipment installations in hospitals related to COVID-19, and the consequences of the Respironics field action.
Our strategy and portfolio continue to resonate very well with customers and consumers, generating good demand for our products and solutions. For the full year, I am pleased with the 8% comparable sales growth in the Diagnosis & Treatment businesses and 9% growth in the Personal Health businesses. Connected Care sales declined, resulting in a 1% comparable sales decrease for the Group. The aforementioned headwinds had a combined impact of 5 percentage-points on the Group’s full year comparable sales.
Group comparable order intake growth also remained robust throughout the year, with 4% growth for the full year, driven by double-digit growth in the Diagnosis & Treatment businesses. This further builds on the high-single-digit Group comparable order intake growth in 2020, resulting in an all-time-high order book. During 2021, we signed 80 long-term strategic partnerships and launched innovations such as the Spectral CT 7500 to support a precision diagnosis, as well as expanding our Azurion image-guided therapy platform with breakthrough applications to innovate minimally invasive treatments. We also continued to help consumers take better care of their health with our personal health offerings. Patient well-being is at the heart of everything we do at Philips, and we remain extremely focused on repairing and replacing the devices related to the Philips Respironics recall notification. We are conducting a comprehensive test and research program and provided an update in December on the positive VOC test results related to the first-generation DreamStation devices.
Based on good customer demand and our growing order book, we expect to resume our growth and margin expansion trajectory in the course of 2022. In the short term, however, we continue to see significant volatility and headwinds related to COVID-19 and supply chain challenges, despite our ongoing mitigation efforts. Due to this, the Respironics field action and the 9% comparable sales growth in Q1 2021, we expect to start the year with a comparable sales decline, followed by a recovery and strong second half of the year. For the full year, we target to deliver 5-6% comparable sales growth excluding Sleep & Respiratory Care. For the Group, we target 3-5% comparable sales growth and a 40-90 basis-points improvement in Adjusted EBITA margin.”
