Philips posts 59m euro Q1 net loss

Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world's largest maker of lights, posted a net loss of 59 million euros in the first quarter yesterday, hurt by declining sales of items such as cars and televisions.

In the same period a year ago, the industrial conglomerate had net profit of 294 million euros. Sales fell 15 percent to 5.08 billion euros.

Philips is among the first of Dutch blue chip companies to report earnings, and its outlook will be fodder for analysts and investors looking for signs the global economic downturn is easing. However, Philips gave no hint of seeing any recovery in its report.