(Reuters) – Signify, the world’s largest lighting maker, said on Friday it expects operating profitability to be in the range of 10.5%-11.5% in 2023, but did not give any outlook on sales, citing volatility in the current macroeconomic environment.
Signify had earlier this month cut its full-year forecast for both profit margin and sales growth, citing a steeper-than-expected slowdown in China.
The Eindhoven, Netherlands-based company had then forecast margin on earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) of about 10% for both the fourth quarter and the year.
“Looking ahead, we expect volatility to persist in the first half of 2023 and our performance to improve in the second half,” Chief Executive Officer Eric Rondolat said in a statement, adding that the company’s key priority in 2023 would be to improve profitability, the CEO said.
Signify, the former lighting arm of Philips, on Friday posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) margin of 10.1% for 2022 and comparable sales growth of 1.2%, in line with the profit warning.
The group also said it would increase its cash dividend to 1.50 euros per share over 2022, while targeting annual free cash flow of between 6%-8% of sales.
(Reporting by Diana Mandiá; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
