The group known today for its health equipment had recovered respirators which caused irritation and headaches.
The Dutch health giant Philips announced on Tuesday the early departure of its general manager Frans van Houten, weighed down for a year by the international recall of millions of defective respirators marketed by the group.
Frans van Houten, who was to leave the head of Philips next April after 12 years in his post, will give way on October 15 to Roy Jakobs, the current supervisor of this gigantic recall operation which has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars. euros.
900 million euros to recall respirators
The supervisory board of Philips and the outgoing boss of the group “agreed that with the end of his third term in sight, the time was right for a change of direction“, According to the press release issued by the group. Frans van Houten said to himself “iron“for having notably led since 2010 the diversification of Philips to make it “one of the largest health technology companies in the worldbut he agreed that “much remains to be doneto allow the Amsterdam-based group to “overcoming current setbacks and unfavorable market conditions».
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Since June 2021, Philips has been forced to launch a massive international recall campaign for several defective models of respirators used in particular by patients suffering from sleep apnea. The devices concerned contain a sound-absorbing foam, from which particles are detached which can cause irritation and headaches if they are inhaled or ingested. The group also mentioned a risk “potential» of long-term cancers.
To date, Philips has had to provision nearly 900 million euros to finance the operation, which also contributed to the net financial losses posted by the Dutch giant. On the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the Philips title was up 0.14% to 20.09 euros after.