GE said its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as the diversified industrial products and media conglomerate saw strong revenue growth in its infrastructure, health care and so on.
January 19, 2007 (Press Release) --
General Electric Co. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as the diversified industrial products and media conglomerate saw strong revenue growth in its infrastructure, health care and financial services businesses.
GE also said it is restating financial results for the years 2001 through 2005 and the first three quarters of 2006 to adjust accounting for interest rate swaps in part of its financial services commercial paper program.
The restatement, which reduced reported earnings by a net of $343 million, is based on a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission that GE's commercial paper hedging program didn't meet certain technical requirements. The change will have a slightly positive effect on earnings over the next 10 years, GE said.
GE also said it expects earnings per share from continuing operations to rise between 10 percent and 12 percent for all of 2007 and somewhere between 8 percent and 13 percent in the current first quarter.
"NBC Universal's turnaround is advancing, and Industrial had a good year in spite of continued commodity inflation and competitive challenges at Plastics," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt in a prepared statement. The company said it is considering a divestiture of the plastics unit, which has an estimated value of up to $10 billion.
The company's NBC television network has shown signs of a turnaround, topping CBS the week of Jan. 1 as the nation's most-watched network for the first time this season.
Net income for the three months ended Dec. 30 totaled $6.58 billion, or 64 cents per share, up from $3.16 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year ago when GE took a $2.7 billion charge, net of taxes, for discontinued operations.
Earnings from continuing operations rose by a smaller 12 percent to 64 cents per share. This figure was in line with analysts' consensus estimates and up from 56 cents per share a year ago.
GE shares fell 79 cents to $37.21 in premarket trading after the release of the report.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 11 percent to $44.62 billion, topping Wall Street's $44.18 billion forecast, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Organic revenue grew 8 percent during the quarter, while quarterly orders rose 19 percent.
For all of 2006, net income rose 25 percent to $20.83 billion, or $2 per share, from $16.71 billion, or $1.57 per share, in the restated results for the year-ago period.
Adjusted 2006 income climbed 11 percent to $20.67 billion, or $1.99 per share, from $18.66 billion, or $1.76 per share, in 2005. The results were just above Wall Street expectations for full-year earnings of $1.98 a share.
Full-year sales rose 10 percent to $163.39 billion, from $147.96 billion a year ago, beating Wall Street estimates for sales of $162.8 million. Organic revenue for the year grew 9 percent.
Global demand continues to grow, and accounted for $78 billion in annual revenue, up from about $40 billion in 2000, said Immelt.
In recent months, GE has been selling off slower-growth businesses such as insurance and plastics and focusing on faster-growth areas such as energy, oil and gas equipment, rail engines, health care technology, finance and water processing technology.
The company announced two acquisitions this week - a $8.13 billion deal Thursday to purchase about two-thirds of Abbott Laboratories diagnostics business, and a $4.8 billion agreement Monday to buy the aerospace business of Smiths Group PLC, Britain's third-largest aerospace company.
GE also announced this week a partnership with AES Corp. to develop projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 10 million metric tons annually by 2010.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/
GE also said it is restating financial results for the years 2001 through 2005 and the first three quarters of 2006 to adjust accounting for interest rate swaps in part of its financial services commercial paper program.
The restatement, which reduced reported earnings by a net of $343 million, is based on a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission that GE's commercial paper hedging program didn't meet certain technical requirements. The change will have a slightly positive effect on earnings over the next 10 years, GE said.
GE also said it expects earnings per share from continuing operations to rise between 10 percent and 12 percent for all of 2007 and somewhere between 8 percent and 13 percent in the current first quarter.
"NBC Universal's turnaround is advancing, and Industrial had a good year in spite of continued commodity inflation and competitive challenges at Plastics," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt in a prepared statement. The company said it is considering a divestiture of the plastics unit, which has an estimated value of up to $10 billion.
The company's NBC television network has shown signs of a turnaround, topping CBS the week of Jan. 1 as the nation's most-watched network for the first time this season.
Net income for the three months ended Dec. 30 totaled $6.58 billion, or 64 cents per share, up from $3.16 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year ago when GE took a $2.7 billion charge, net of taxes, for discontinued operations.
Earnings from continuing operations rose by a smaller 12 percent to 64 cents per share. This figure was in line with analysts' consensus estimates and up from 56 cents per share a year ago.
GE shares fell 79 cents to $37.21 in premarket trading after the release of the report.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 11 percent to $44.62 billion, topping Wall Street's $44.18 billion forecast, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Organic revenue grew 8 percent during the quarter, while quarterly orders rose 19 percent.
For all of 2006, net income rose 25 percent to $20.83 billion, or $2 per share, from $16.71 billion, or $1.57 per share, in the restated results for the year-ago period.
Adjusted 2006 income climbed 11 percent to $20.67 billion, or $1.99 per share, from $18.66 billion, or $1.76 per share, in 2005. The results were just above Wall Street expectations for full-year earnings of $1.98 a share.
Full-year sales rose 10 percent to $163.39 billion, from $147.96 billion a year ago, beating Wall Street estimates for sales of $162.8 million. Organic revenue for the year grew 9 percent.
Global demand continues to grow, and accounted for $78 billion in annual revenue, up from about $40 billion in 2000, said Immelt.
In recent months, GE has been selling off slower-growth businesses such as insurance and plastics and focusing on faster-growth areas such as energy, oil and gas equipment, rail engines, health care technology, finance and water processing technology.
The company announced two acquisitions this week - a $8.13 billion deal Thursday to purchase about two-thirds of Abbott Laboratories diagnostics business, and a $4.8 billion agreement Monday to buy the aerospace business of Smiths Group PLC, Britain's third-largest aerospace company.
GE also announced this week a partnership with AES Corp. to develop projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 10 million metric tons annually by 2010.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/
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