General Electric reported on April 22 a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, but profit in its industrials business declined.
The company lost $98 million, or $0.01 per share, for the period ending March 31, following a decline of $13.6 billion, or $1.35 per share, a year earlier. It attributed the loss largely to non-cash charges from the sale of its GE Capital division.
Revenue for the quarter was up 6 percent to nearly $28 billion.
GE, which is in the midst of relocating from Fairfield to Boston, also said that organic revenue, excluding foreign exchange and discontinued operations, fell 1 percent in the first quarter, but is forecasting growth of 2-4 percent for 2016.
According to CEO Jeffrey Immelt, “We are ahead of the GE Capital exit plan with $166 billion in deals signed. We are already seeing valuable synergies from the Alstom acquisition. Our investments in GE Digital have positioned us as the leader in the Industrial Internet.”
GE acquired grid businesses from French turbine-maker Alstom last fall for $10.3 billion. Its most recent Alstom development, announced April 21, will see it remodel a coal-fired steam-turbine facility in Bridgeport Harbor with a 485-megawatt combined cycle plant.
For the quarter, GE’s oil and gas business posted an 18% revenue loss of $3.3 billion, with profit down 37 percent to $308 million. Its industrial operating gross profit margin was steady at 26.2 percent.
