Philips posts 33% sales growth

A strong rise in peripheral and accessory sales has helped Philips Consumer Lifestyle post positive growth for all three quarters of this year.

Sales for the year until date are up 33 per cent on last year and have added to the year's positive results for parent company, Philips Electronics Middle East.

Health and Wellness products and domestic appliance sales also grew this year, John Smith, Vice-President and Sub-Cluster Leader (Middle East and Africa), Philips Consumer Lifestyle, told Emirates Business.

"Consumer lifestyle has experienced solid sales performance across its portfolio in the Middle East and has been able to successfully manage the downturn via a concerted focus on providing value to the consumer and maintaining substantial investments on in-store presence and conversion at the point of sale.

"Our domestic appliances, health and wellness and peripherals and accessories ranges in particular have been most resilient to the economic conditions, delivering year-on-year growth in sales for the first three quarters. Markets, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, have performed strongly and show continued signs of growth opportunity," he said.

Domestic appliances sales are up 2.5 per cent buoyed by kitchen appliances (+27 per cent) and floor care (+10 per cent). While health and wellness grew seven per cent, the company's best performing category this year has been digital audio players, which recorded a 91 per cent business growth.

"It varies a lot from category to category in consumer lifestyle. Some categories, such as kitchen appliances, peripherals and accessories and MP3, are experiencing strong double-digit growth. Our Avent product range, beauty and hair care and floor care categories are also growing," said Smith.

Television sales, however, have taken a near 20 per cent hit this year after the company decided to withdraw from the business.

"We took a specific decision in 2009 not to chase low margin business in TV and focus on high-end and innovative products.

"This meant rationalising our TV portfolio in some cases, resulting in a double-digit sales decline compared to 2008. The benefit was that we focused more on in-store execution and in providing a differentiated solution to the consumer. With our TV product range, we are seeing a rise in demand in the second half," he said.

Smith said: "We remain cautiously optimistic about the near future. Demand is slowly improving, but business conditions remain challenging in retail. In Q4, we expect to see further stabilisation of the UAE market."

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