Philips in crisis: this time it’s different

“Philips is a toxic snack,” Peter de Waard observed in De Volkskrant (link in Dutch). No matter how appetizing the company may seem, having lost around 70 percent of its market value over the past year, even vultures think twice before gorging on the ailing medical equipment manufacturer as long as the extent of the damage claims for potentially toxic respiratory gear is unknown.

This buys freshly installed CEO Roy Jakobs time. In office since 15 October, he’s made it abundantly clear that he intends to orchestrate a turnaround. “We must act to secure the future of Philips,” Jakobs said at the presentation of the third-quarter results, which saw comparable sales drop 5 percent quarter-on-quarter and a net loss of 1.3 billion euros mainly due to a write-down related to a massive sleep machine recall. Philips’ performance is also impacted by operational and supply chain challenges, inflation, continuing Covid-related restrictions in China and the war in Ukraine.