Philips to report EUR 2.2 billion one-time gains in Q4, 2000

Royal Philips Electronics' fourth quarter 2000 earnings will include one-time after tax gains of approximately EUR 2.2 billion in total. This results from the exchange of Philips' shares in Seagram to Vivendi Universal shares and from the merger of Philips' IT subsidiary Origin with Atos of France, which created Atos Origin. Following the completion of the three-way merger between Vivendi, Seagram and Canal Plus, all of Philips' 47,831,952 shares in Seagram have been exchanged for 38,265,561 Vivendi Universal shares. This represents approximately 3.5 per cent of Vivendi Universal's outstanding common shares. As a result of the exchange, Philips will report an after tax gain of approximately EUR 1.1 billion. Philips has agreed that it will not dispose of any Vivendi Universal shares for a period of 90 days after completion of the merger. The merger between Philips' IT subsidiary Origin and Atos of France, which was recently completed, has resulted in a tax free gain of approximately EUR 1.1 billion. Philips holds approximately 49 per cent of the shares in the new company Atos Origin. Philips will publish its 2000 annual results on Thursday, February 8, 2001 at 07:00 hrs Dutch time.