The weakening euro helped propel Philips Healthcare to stronger revenues in its financial second quarter (end-June 30), but orders for imaging systems dropped by double-digit levels.
For the period, Philips Healthcare posted sales of $3.06 billion (2.754 billion euros), up 29% at constant exchange rates from sales of $2.372 billion (2.137 billion euros) in the same period of fiscal 2014. After adjusting for currency effects, sales grew 8%.
The healthcare division's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the quarter stood at $305.3 million (275 million euros), compared with $250 million (225 million euros) in the same period last year. EBIT as a percentage of sales stood at 10% for the most recent quarter, compared with 10.5% in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
With respect to orders, the company said that overall healthcare orders declined at a single-digit rate after currency adjustments. The company saw double-digit order growth in its Healthcare Informatics and Solutions and Services divisions and a single-digit increase in its Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions unit. However, there was a double-digit decline in its Imaging Systems segment.
Orders in mature geographies showed growth in the high single digits on a currency-adjusted basis, with North America showing double-digit growth and other mature geographies showing high-single-digit growth. Western Europe posted a decline in the low single digits.
Among emerging markets, there were double-digit declines in China and Latin America, due to what Philips called "deteriorating market conditions" in those countries.
