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Article: Finance unit woes lower GE earns 36 pct
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- April 17, 2009
- Author:
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General Electric Co.'s first-quarter earnings fell 36 percent as profits tumbled at its troubled finance arm, but the results beat Wall Street forecasts in a glimmer of good news for the struggling company.
While GE Capital remains a major drag on the conglomerate's profits, GE's strategy of weathering the economic slowdown by relying on its big industrial businesses appears to be paying off, at least for now.
GE, which has a stake in almost every sector of the economy, from light bulbs and credit cards to windmills, on Friday reported net income of $2.74 billion, or 26 cents per share, after paying preferred dividends. That was down from $4.30 billion, or 43 cents per share, ...