Philips Reports Third Quarter Profit of $728 Million

Royal Philips Electronics NV (PHG) reported third quarter earnings of 524 million euros ($728 million), or 55 euro cents per share, up from 174 million euros a year earlier.

Profit rose on lower costs and a gain of 154 million euros from the sale of the company's stake in NXP Semiconductors, Philips said in a statement.

"The third quarter was another solid quarter for Philips," CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said. "In a still fragile economic environment, with weak consumer markets in the developed economies, we posted sales growth of 10% nominal and 1% on a comparable basis."

Sales rose 10% to 6.2 billion euros, driven by a strong performance in emerging markets. Comparable sales rose 1%.

The company said it is "cautious" on sales growth in the fourth quarter.