GE Capital continued to struggle in the fourth quarter, putting in the worst performance of General Electric Co.”™s five divisions even as the Obama administration warned of new regulatory restrictions on large financial companies.
GE is based in Fairfield and is one of the largest employers in Fairfield County with more than 5,000 employees at last report. Comcast Corp. is acquiring half of GE”™s New York City-based division NBC Universal, with GE retaining a minority stake in a deal that is still under review by antitrust regulators.
Norwalk-based GE Capital had a $336 million profit in the fourth quarter on $12.5 billion in revenue, off 67 percent and 15 percent respectively from a year earlier.
In a prepared statement, GE CEO Jeff Immelt attributed the performance primarily to GE Commercial Real Estate, though several GE Capital units suffered varying declines. The lone GE Capital business to gain altitude in sales and profits was GE Commercial Aviation Services, which had a 1 percent rise in revenue and 16 percent lift in profits.
Across all GE operations, the only other units to post gains in both categories were oil and gas and technology infrastructure enterprise solutions.
“We saw some encouraging signs at year-end,” Immelt said. “During the difficult economy of 2009, we took a series of actions to improve GE so that we would be positioned for growth in the future. We have repositioned GE Capital to be safer and more focused. We have lowered our cost base and simplified our portfolio. At the same time, we grew GE R&D spend by 7 percent, expanded our product lines and made dynamic global investments. We are positioned to win in this environment.”
GE fourth-quarter revenue was $41.4 billion, down 10 percent from a year ago but up 10 percent from the third quarter of 2009. Profits totaled $3 billion, down 19 percent from last year.
For the entire year, revenue was $156.8 billion, down 14 percent from 2008, and GE”™s $11.2 billion profit slumped 38 percent.
The company”™s backlog is currently at a record level of $175 billion.
