Philips sees 4-6 percent sales growth in health technology push

[November 02, 2017]  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Philips expects sales to grow by 4 to 6 percent in the coming three years as it focuses on growth in the health technology market, the Dutch company said on Thursday.

Philips spun off its lighting division last year to focus on medical devices and healthcare products. Its main divisions now sell personal health products, such as electrical toothbrushes, and hospital equipment, including high-end medical scanners and imaging tools.

Ahead of its capital markets day on Thursday, Philips said it expected the total market for health technology to grow to almost 200 billion euros ($233 billion) in 2020 from 149 billion euros now.

The company, which made 17 billion euros in sales from health technology in 2016, reiterated its sales goal for the coming three years, as well as the promise of an annual average improvement of its operational profit margin by 100 basis points.

Meanwhile, its free cash flow is expected to amount to 1-1.5 billion euros each year.

Earlier this month, the company said its sales had grown by 4 percent in the first nine months of 2017, with the adjusted core profit (EBITA) margin improving to 12.8 percent in the third quarter.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Mark Potter)

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