FAIRFIELD, Conn. — General Electric on Thursday reported a 77 percent increase in first-quarter earnings, lifted by marked improvement at its GE Capital financing arm and gains at most of its industrial units.
The company also boosted its quarterly dividend by a penny to 15 cents. The move marks GE’s third dividend increase in the past year, although the payout remains well short of GE’s 31-cent dividend before the financial crisis and economic downturn.
“Our environment continues to improve and get better,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt on a call with analysts, noting that the restructuring of GE Capital was ahead of plan while the quarter saw record orders for its industrial unit.
Immelt also said the company was “done” with major acquisitions after spending $11 billion to expand its energy unit.
GE’s stock has risen 12 percent year-to-date through Wednesday, with GE’s strong first-quarter results following a fourth-quarter report in January that showed substantial evidence of a turnaround.
Immelt reiterated confidence that the Fairfield, Conn., company will achieve goals laid out in its 2011 financial framework, which among other things calls for about five percent revenue growth in GE’s industrial businesses. GE has been relying on its industrial units to fuel its long-term prospects as it moves to shrink GE Capital, which once accounted for half the conglomerate’s profit but became a severe drag during the financial crisis.
GE ended the first quarter with a $177 billion backlog of orders for big-ticket equipment and services, up from $175 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.
New equipment and services orders totaled $19 billion, up from $17.1 billion in the year-ago period but down from $24.8 billion in the fourth quarter.
GE reported a first-quarter profit of $3.43 billion, or 31 cents a share, up from $1.95 billion, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier. The company’s operating earnings, which exclude discontinued operations and other items such as non-operating pension costs, rose to 33 cents from 20 cents. Revenue rose 6.2 percent to $38.45 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast earnings of 28 cents on $34.64 billion in revenue.
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