AMSTERDAM--Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world's biggest maker of light bulbs, said it's cautious about propects for this year after writedowns, sluggish sales and costs to exit a television business led to its first annual loss since 2008.

Costs to overhaul the business and investment in manufacturing to raise efficiency will weigh on earnings this year, the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement. Philips is "fully committed" to achieving 2013 financial targets, it said on Monday.

"We are cautious about 2012 given the uncertainty in the global economy, and Europe in particular," Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten said in the statement yesterday.

Philips joins competitors including Siemens AG suffering from a slowdown. Van Houten earlier this month said earnings before interest, taxes and amortization dropped by almost one-half, below analyst estimates, as the company battles deteriorating demand for health-care equipment and lighting products in Europe. Siemens, a rival in those markets, said achieving its goals has become harder as quarterly profit missed estimates.

Shares of Philips have fallen 32 percent since Van Houten took the helm in April 2011, reducing the market value to 15.7 billion euros ($21 billion). The company plans to extend a share repurchasing program by one year, through the end of the second quarter of 2013.

Philips on Dec. 15 outlined a first round of headcount reduction in the Netherlands at its lighting unit as part of a bigger overhaul involving 4,500 jobs worldwide in a 800 million euro savings drive.

The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 160 million euros compared with profit of 465 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had expected a net loss of 25.75 million euros, a survey from Bloomberg shows. The company had a full-year net loss of 1.29 billion euros.

The loss included a charge of 272 million euros related to the agreement with Hong Kong-based TPV Technology Ltd for Philips' loss-making TV-unit.