Reporting its fourth-quarter loss, the first one since 2003, Royal Philips Electronics NV announced its decision of laying-off 6,000 employees, on top of the 3,000 employees laid off in the earlier quarter.

CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said that the company also intends halting its 5 billion-euro share buyback program "until further notice."

The Amsterdam-based company stated its fourth-quarter net loss of 1.5 billion euros, after writedowns on a few of its stakes and acquisitions. These figures exceeded the Reuter poll estimates of a net loss of 1.2 billion euros by the analysts. However, meeting the expectations of the analysts was the company's proposed 2008 dividend of
0.70 euros per share, which remained unchanged from 2007.

In a statement reporting the quarterly loss, Kleisterlee said: "The development of our quarterly results reflects the unprecedented speed and ferocity with which the economy softened in 2008."

On December 4, the company announced its write down of stakes in LG Display, which is the world's second-largest maker of LCDs; and NXP, the third-biggest maker of semiconductors in Europe, by 1.1 billion euros. Making that announcement, the company had cited declining markets for the consumer lifestyle and lighting businesses.

The company reiterated: "Our fourth-quarter results confirm the expectation we expressed early December that the short-term economic outlook is worsening and that 2009 is likely to be a very challenging year."