Gerard Johannes Kleisterlee (born 28 September 1946) is a Dutch businessman and engineer. He is the chairman of Vodafone, and of the supervisory board of ASML and the former president and CEO of Philips. (wikipedia)
Underlying performance in our businesses has improved as a result of cost controls and better operating efficiencies, which is fundamental as we do not see much of an economic improvement in the near future,
By reducing the cost base drastically we will be able to realize market presence with greatly reduced exposure,
We're pleased that we are keeping our momentum, with strong growth and solid performance across all our main divisions. A strong customer focus, together with innovative products, helped expand our already strong position within healthcare, lifestyle and technology.
That decline is considerably less than we've seen in other years.
Thanks to solid underlying performance during the quarter, we are on track with our financial targets and delivering on our commitments.
Its seems the worst slump in recent business history is behind us now, and the we begin to see the start of a new upturn in the business cycle, ... We are encouraged by the improved performance in many of our businesses, especially in semiconductors and components.
The joint venture puts us in a clear cost-leadership position in a mature market,
There is a lack of value creation, particularly around consumer electronics,
The electronics parts of our company continue to suffer heavily from continued poor market conditions in the telecom and PC-related businesses,
While we remain focused on expanding the company through value-creating acquisitions in our medical systems, domestic appliances and personal care and in our lighting businesses, we'll continue managing our capital efficiently to create optimum value for our shareholders,
