Signify gets no pain relief in the second quarter

Being a lighting all-rounder can be hazardous to the bottom line. Ask Signify, where net income crashed 82% in the second quarter as the company’s solid performance in the outdoor sector couldn’t stave off difficulties in the indoor professional and home markets, as well as in the horticultural lighting segment.

With no immediate change in sight, Signify lowered its profit forecast and said it would implement new “structural changes” on top of cost cuts already under way, which in the quarter ending June 30 included reducing full-time employees from 35,407 to 33,381. Many of the job losses were in factories.

CEO Eric Rondolat cited rising interest rates as one reason why corporate and horticultural customers hesitated to borrow and purchase. Likewise, the inflated cost of energy continues to deter horticultural users from buying LED lighting, he said. Although LEDs are energy efficient, adding them where no lighting has been used before would still incur significant electricity bills.

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Image by DCStudio on Freepik

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