GE Hits Targets

GE (GE) matched third-quarter earnings estimates and reaffirmed full-year guidance.

The Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate made $5.09 billion, or 50 cents a share, from continuing operations for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from the year-ago $4.75 billion, or 46 cents a share. Revenue rose 12% from a year ago to $42.5 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a 50-cent profit on revenue of $42.4 billion.

"GE delivered a solid quarter in spite of extreme volatility in the financial services market and some one-time items in our industrial businesses," GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. "Infrastructure delivered double-digit segment profit growth of 12%, led by a strong performance at Oil & Gas, Transportation, and Energy. Our Aviation business remains solid with equipment order growth of 93%. In the quarter, we had an increase in our aviation development programs of $0.1 billion.

"Commercial Finance and GE Money generated broad-based earnings growth of 12% and 13%, respectively. These businesses had approximately $0.1 billion of impact in the quarter due to market volatility. With our global strength and the re-pricing of risk, these businesses are built to perform.

The company reaffirmed fourth-quarter earnings guidance of 67 to 69 cents a share, in line with the 68-cent Thomson target.