By Leo Marchandon and Jerome Terroy
(Reuters) -Signify, the world's biggest lights maker, reported a steeper than expected 8.4% drop in third-quarter sales and lowered its full-year guidance on Friday, hit by falling demand from commercial and public sector clients in the United States.
The Dutch group produces connected streetlights and dynamic lighting for landmarks such as the Empire State Building and stadiums like the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Signify's quarterly sales were 1.4 billion euros ($1.6
billion), while analysts had projected them at 1.46 billion euros in company-compiled consensus.
It now expects sales to fall between 2.5% and 3% in 2025, having previously forecast low single-digit percentage growth.
Sales in its core professional lighting segment fell by 7% to 928 million euros, driven by a bigger than expected decline in U.S. demand for lighting solutions in commercial, industrial and public spaces.
The company saw a 25% drop in sales of its conventional lights to 76 million euros, which was expected as traditional lamps and tubes are phased out in favour of more high-tech and energy-efficient options.
Its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales were meanwhile dragged 26% lower to 93 million euros by fewer orders from two major customers, which it said was unrelated to the U.S. slowdown.
Signify's OEM segment provides LED components and connected systems to manufacturers, while the Conventional segment sells legacy lighting products such as fluorescent and HID lamps.
The Consumer division, which includes brands like Philips Hue and WiZ, reported sales of 301 million euros in the quarter, with only a marginal 1% decline that was attributed to the weakening of the U.S. dollar. Growth in India and new product launches supported the segment's performance.
Signify's headcount was 28,064 at the end of the third quarter, an around 7% reduction compared to the same time last year.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Jérôme Terroy in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
