Philips wins no awards for cheerfulness. The company that nine months ago warned sales and sentiment had slumped in a “very dangerous way” still sees no structural recovery in most of its markets, making it cagey indeed about the holiday season outlook. The most its finance director will concede is that there has been “some stabilisation of consumer sentiment”.

All the more surprising, then, that the Dutch consumer electronics maker beat even top-end forecasts for third-quarter net profit (the consensus was for a loss) and operating profits. It shares gained more than 7 per cent yesterday, hitting a 12-month high.