LED light bulbs continue to increase in popularity

Philips is to focus on LED light bulbs following recent sales figures.

Philips has announced that their LED-based sales grew at 43% during the second quarter of the fiscal year. LED light bulbs now cover 36% of total lighting sales, compared to 25% in 2013.The EBITA margin for Philips new lighting division improved to 8.6%.

Despite the growth in sales, Philips to still looking for ways to improve profitability in the lighting division as well as accelerating the move to LED light bulbs. Philips has been focusing on optimising its industrial footprint and the overall cost vase gas resulted in 8 consecutive quarters of year-on-year improved operational profitability.

CEO of Philips, Frans Van Houten, said:

In lighting we are intensifying our focus on connected LED lighting systems and services, LED luminaires and LED lamps for the professional and consumer markets. Our decision to combine Lumileds and Automotive lighting businesses into a standalone company within Philips will allow it to extend its leading portfolio of digital lighting components and achieve robust growth, serving even more customers in the industry, as well as Philips Lighting. Lighting is taking advantage of the many opportunities in the growing LED space, driven by increased demand for energy efficiency and digital controls. While 2014 is expected to be a challenging year overall, we anticipate EBITA for the group , excluding restructuring and acquisition-related charges and other items in the second half of the year, to exceed the level of the same period last year. We continue to increase efficiency and drive profitable growth through the execution of our multi-year. Accelerate transformation and are firmly committed to reaching our 2016 targets.