Philips, the Dutch maker of LED lights and medical scanners, on Tuesday reported core fourth quarter earnings ahead of expectations, but issued a cautious outlook for 2016. The company, which is trying to dispose of its lighting operations, forecast "modest" sales growth of around 2% this year, and said it expects improvement only in the second half, Reuters reported. Adjusted EBITA, or earnings before interest, taxes and amortization, came in at €842 million ($913 million) compared with €743 million in the same period of a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast EBITA of €799 million. Comparable sales increased by 2% to €7.1 billion, Philips said. CEO Frans van Houten said in a statement that the company expects "modest comparable sales growth" this year. "Taking into account ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and the phasing of costs and sales, we expect improvements in the year to be back-end loaded," he said. The company reported a net loss of €39 million for the fourth quarter.
