Philips, the Dutch consumer electronics and medical giant, announced plans today to cut 6,000 jobs worldwide this year after reporting its first quarterly loss for almost six years.

The company suffered a net loss of €186 million (£176 million) for 2008 after a fourth quarter loss of €1.47 billion, partly because of a writedown in the value of its Lumileds diode light unit. In 2007, it reported a net profit of €4.16 billion.

Gerard Kleisterlee, the president and chief executive, said that the fourth-quarter losses, the first quarterly loss since the first quarter of 2003, reflected "the unprecedented speed and ferocity with which the economy softened in 2008".

He announced that in addition to the 3,000 job reductions made in the fourth quarter, a further 6,000 would be cut during the current year.

The company, which sold most of its semiconductor business in 2006, declined to comment on possible job losses in the UK, where it employs 2,500 people, although all its worldwide operations are expected to be subject to the €400 million cost-cutting programme announced today.

Mr Kleisterlee said that, in response to a sharp reduction in demand, especially in its consumer lifestyle and lighting businesses, management was giving "absolute priority to cash flow, where necessary at the expense of operating profits".

Comparable sales at its consumer lifestyle division fell by 13 per cent, with televisions down 37 per cent and video and multimedia down 34 per cent.

The results were hit by a €232 million impairment charge against the goodwill of Lumileds as demand waned for LED applications in the automotive, display and mobile phone markets.

The group wrote off a further €1.06 billion on the value of other holdings, while suffering a €369 million reduction in operating profits and a €361 million hit from restructuring and acquisition-related charges.

News of the job losses at Philips came as the market awaited confirmation of up to 2,500 staff cuts at the British operations of Corus, the steelmaker.

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