Philips slows down buy-back as sales fall short of estimates

Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe's biggest television maker, said it will slow down its 5 billion-euro share buyback after third-quarter sales fell short of analysts' estimates.

Philips will reduce the pace of purchases because of "the risks and opportunities presented by the deterioration of the economy and the financial market turbulence", the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement today.

Third-quarter sales fell 2 percent to 6.3 billion euros, missing the median estimate from 12 analysts of 6.71 billion euros. Net income rose 7.9 percent on the sale of shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.