About 4,500 jobs will be lost - 1,400 of them in the Netherlands - as a result of cuts announced by Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips earlier this year.

The FNV trades union confederation says this amounts to 10 percent of Philips staff in the Netherlands. FNV says it will be several months before Dutch employees know whether they will keep or lose their jobs.

CEO Frans van Houten called the dismissals regrettable but inevitable to make Philips “agile and competitive.'' He said he was still not satisfied with the performance of his company but did not foresee any material improvement in the near future.

Philips reported a 76-million-euro profit over the past quarter, compared to 524 million in the same period last year. Turnover fell by 66 million euros to 5.394 billion euros.

(gsh/rk/imm)

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide