Fairfield-based General Electric Co., which makes everything from jet engines to water treatment systems and owns NBC Universal, said today its third quarter profit fell 22 percent, hurt by its financing business.
GE’s results spared investors any nasty new surprises, meeting the lower end of the company’s revised earnings forecast from last month. GE, a bellwether for the U.S. economy, has blamed softening profits on its financial arm, battered since April by frozen credit markets and waning confidence in global financial systems.
GE said net income fell to $4.3 billion, or 43 cents per share, compared with $5.56 billion, or 54 cents, a year earlier.
GE’s revenue totaled $47.23 billion, up 11 percent.
Shares of GE traded at 10:10 a.m. at $20.05, up $1.04, or 5.5 percent.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $47.34 billion.
Results were dragged down by a 33 percent profit decline at its capital finance business and an 82 percent drop in profit at GE’s consumer and industrial unit, which makes appliances and other products. GE plans to spin off or sell its appliances unit.
GE last month lowered its quarterly forecast to between 43 cents and 48 cents per share from its prior range of 50 cents and 54 cents
GE Capital is the conglomerate’s financial business that provides consumer finance in car loans, mortgages outside the United States, credit cards and other products. Its commercial side finances real estate, corporate lending and leasing. GE also finances energy projects and airline leasing.
Its profit totaled $2 billion, down from $3 billion in the third quarter last year.
“While GE Capital is not immune from the current environment, we continued to outperform our financial services peers,” CEO Jeff Immelt said. (AP)
