General Electric earning rise 11% to €2.47bn

EARNINGS at General Electric climbed 11% in the third quarter as the finance unit’s gains blunted tighter profit margins in the energy business.

Earnings from continuing operations were $3.4 billion (€2.47bn), or 31 cents a share, compared with $3.06bn, or 28 cents, a year earlier excluding pension costs, Connecticut-based GE said.

GE employs 2,200 people across 19 businesses throughout Ireland.

Profit is rebounding at GE Capital as chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, simplifies the business and concentrates on areas like middle-market lending.

He is shrinking the share of overall earnings from finance and focusing on industrial operations, where the largest unit, energy infrastructure, declined more than some analysts estimated.

“Energy came in a little light of our expectations,” said Joel Levington, managing director of corporate credit for Brookfield Asset Management in New York.

“Pricing still looks to be challenging, while GE Capital performed slightly better. All told, nothing too exciting, which given the macro backdrop, is a reasonable result.”

Profit in energy infrastructure, the largest industrial unit, fell 9% to $1.5bn, lower than the average estimate from four analysts including JPMorgan Chase &and Goldman Sachs.

GE Energy said in September that shipments of older orders for lower-priced gas and wind turbines are nearing a peak as it absorbs more than $12bn in acquisitions.

Company-wide results exclude pension costs and an expense of $881 million, or 8 cents a share, to repurchase preferred stock sold to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as financial markets froze in October 2008.

Including the cost of repurchasing the Berkshire Hathaway stake and other expenses, net income climbed 57% to $3.22bn, or 22 cents a share, from $2.06bn, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier.

Buying back the Berkshire stake will add 3 cents a share to yearly earnings, GE said.