Royal Philips Electronics NV, the giant consumer electronics firm from Holland, posted its first quarterly loss爄n nearly six years on Monday. Fourth quarter losses amounted to 1.47 billion euros ($1.9 billion) forcing the company to make drastic changes to weather the storm. Philips announced job cuts of�6,000 employess throughout the company around the world.

Amid slowing demand in their consumer and lighting products, the company was forced to write down 1.3 billion euros worth of assets.

Philips shares dropped around 50 percent in 2008, and is currently trading at 41.22.

(C) Graph from Google Finance.

(C)Philips logo from Philips.