Philips discloses conflict with US over defibrillators; Q4 earnings miss estimates

By Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Medical equipment maker Philips on Tuesday disclosed a conflict with the U.S. government over defibrillators it sold in 2015 and before, along with fourth-quarter earnings in which it missed analysts’ estimates.
Philips repeated its medium-term financial targets of 4 percent to 6 percent average comparable sales growth and a 1 percent improvement in adjusted EBITA margin per year despite the defibrillator matter, which it said was civil, not cr