Amsterdam: Dutch healthcare technology company Philips on Monday said its core profit in the third quarter rose 6.8 percent to 568 million euros ($863 million), missing analyst estimates despite rising sales and improving margins.
Analysts polled for Reuters had seen adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) of 590 million euros, compared with 532 million in the same period last year.
Philips blamed currency headwinds, saying comparable sales grew by 4 percent and margins improved, while order intake was up 11 percent from a year ago. Notably, it said sales were up 9 percent in China while orders were up by "double digits", while fears of lagging Chinese growth had been a point of concern for many investors.
"While I am pleased with the continued strong 11 percent order intake growth in the quarter, operational improvements were partially offset by increased foreign exchange headwinds," CEO Frans van Houten said in a statement.
The company's EBITA margin improved by 0.4 pct to 13.2 percent of sales, and Van Houten repeated the company's target of 4 to 6 percent average comparable sales growth over the 2017-2020 period.
Philips' largest division, which makes medical imaging equipment such as ultrasound machines, saw comparable sales rise 6 percent to 1.75 billion euros, with growth skewed toward emerging markets and North America.
Comparable sales fell 2 percent to 741 million euros at its Connected Care or patient monitoring business, and rose 4 percent to 1.68 billion euros at its Personal Care business, which includes sleep and breathing aid devices.