Cannes: Jan Hommen, vice chairman and CFO of EUR 29 billion Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) of the Netherlands, Europe''s largest electronics company recently addressed the Citigroup 2004 Investors'' Conference of global corporate issuers in Cannes, France.

Hommen used this forum to review business targets achieved in 2003, while discussing Philips'' objectives for 2004.He traced how Philips exceeded its costs savings target of EUR 1 billion, and continued to focus its portfolio of core businesses and brought all of its core business activities back into the black in 2003.

Commenting on the past year''s performance,. Hommen said: "We were able to achieve these goals in 2003, thanks to a clear management agenda backed by strict financial discipline - and it''s an approach we''ll continue to pursue as we move forward with our management agenda for 2004 and with our business targets for the coming years."

He discussed the company''s future targets, which include achieving consistent returns in excess of Philips'' cost of capital and a return on sales of 7 to 10 percent in two to three years time.

Philips'' management agenda for 2004 announced at the company''s annual press conference in February will support meeting these targets. Included in the management agenda for 2004 is the target of achieving 14 per cent EBITA in medical systems and moving toward a stable 4 to 4.5 percent income from operations in the consumer electronics business by the end of 2005.