Royal Philips Electronics has reported a strong rise in net income in the fourth quarter of 2010. Net income reached 465 million euros in the period, up 205 million euros from the same quarter in 2009.

Despite the rise in net income the company said that comparable sales fell four per cent, thanks mainly to "weak consumer demand in Western Europe". In emerging markets Philips saw its sales rise from 31 per cent to 33 per cent of group sales.

The group said that its cash flow was 1.3 billion euros. In addition Philips said that it was proposing an increased dividend of 0.75 euros per share.

Gerard Kleisterlee, President and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics, said, "2010 was an eventful and overall positive year for Philips. We rebounded strongly from the economic downturn caused by the financial crisis. Within the constraints of an economy that remained weak, with fragile consumer confidence in most mature markets, we successfully implemented a major part of our Vision 2010 roadmap. Television profitability, however, remained a major issue that we are committed to resolve.

"We continued to strengthen our business portfolio and achieved an adjusted EBITA margin of 10.5%, significantly exceeding the target we had set ourselves three years ago. With that we set the stage for a successful future as outlined by our Vision 2015 program. Last but not least, we started to prepare for a seamless transition to a new leadership team."