While Royal Philips Electronics recorded a net income of €260 million ($367.7 million U.S.) in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a net loss of €1.18 billion ($1.67 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2008, Philips Healthcare did not fare as well, especially in the U.S. market.

Philips Healthcare reported a 1 percent comparable sales decline, posting €2.4 billion ($3.39 billion U.S.) in the 2009 fourth quarter, compared to €2.47 billion ($3.5 billion U.S.) in the same quarter a year ago. The company attributed the emerging market with “practically offset[ting] the decline in a still soft U.S. market.”

According to Philips Healthcare, growth was strongest at home healthcare solutions and, along with some growth in customer services, “almost offset declines at imaging systems and healthcare informatics.”

The healthcare division also reported a lower amount of charges related to restructuring and acquisitions, with €27 million ($38 million U.S.) in the 2009 fourth quarter, compared with €82 million ($116 million U.S.) in the 2008 fourth quarter. Also, the number of employees has declined in the year-over-year quarters, with 34,296 FTEs in last year’s fourth quarter, compared with 35,551 FTEs in the same period in 2008.

The healthcare unit reported a net operating capital of €8.43 billion ($11.93 billion U.S.) in the fourth quarter of 2009, in comparison to €8.79 billion ($12.43 billion U.S.) in the prior-year fourth quarter.

“Despite continuing weakness in the U.S. market, our healthcare sector managed to deliver another bumper quarter with sales broadly on par with the strong performance of last year,” said Gerard Kleisterlee, president and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics.

Finally, Royal Philips Electronics saw a considerable uptick for the 2009 fiscal year, declaring a net income of €424 million ($599.6 million U.S.), compared to a net loss of €95 million ($134 million U.S.) in 2008. Philips Healthcare reported slightly higher sales for the fiscal year of 2009, compared with 2008--€7.84 billion ($11.1 billion U.S.) versus €7.65 billion ($10.82 billion U.S.).