One of the world's biggest electronics companies , the Dutch-based firm,Philips, has announced plans to close about one-third of its two-hundred-and-forty-four plants worldwide.

A spokesman said forty-two factories would close by the end of this year, and around sixty-six more were to close during the next two years.

He said it was part of a major restructuring exercise to reduce over-capacity.

Analysts say factories in Europe and America are the ones likely to be hardest hit by the restructuring.

The announcement is reported to have triggered an eight percent rise in the price of Philips shares on the Dutch stock exchange.