AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch health technology company Philips <PHG.AS> on Monday reported a better-than-expected 6% rise in comparable sales for the second quarter, helped by strong demand for its hospital equipment in China and the United States.
Analysts polled by the company had seen adjusted sales growth of 4.5%, compared with a 4% increase in the same period last year.
Sales rose to 4.67 billion euros (4.19 billion pounds), while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) jumped 14% to 549 million euros, roughly meeting expectations.
Philips, which sells products ranging from toothbrushes to medical imaging systems, held on to its forecast of solid growth throughout the year as it reported an 8% increase in new orders.
"We continue to expect our performance momentum to further improve in the second half of the year, supported by sales growth and our productivity programme," Chief Executive Frans van Houten said.
The company, purely focused on healthcare since spinning off its lighting and consumer electronics divisions in recent years, reaffirmed its target for total comparable sales growth of 4% to 6% per year until 2020.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Uttaresh.V and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
