Philips sales hit by Covid, respirator recall

Dutch health technology firm Philips posted big drops in fourth quarter sales and profit Monday, as a faulty respirator recall and supply chain issues weighed on the company.

The Amsterdam-based firm, which last year sold off its domestic appliance arm to focus on medical equipment, said sales came in at 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in October through December, a 10 percent drop compared to a year earlier. Fourth quarter profits fell from 607 million euros to 151 million euros.

"Sales were impacted by several headwinds," Philips chief executive Frans van Houten said in a statement.

These were "supply chain challenges, postponement of equipment installations in hospitals related to Covid-19, and the consequences of the Respironics field action," Van Houten said.