Uh oh – General Electric’s fourth quarter earnings were down 46%, from a Huffington Post article a handful of days ago. Even though they’re reporting massive losses, they claim they’re still quite liquid and able to pay out dividends. Overall, GE is down about 22% from last year’s earnings.
From Huffington Post’s article:
GE’s businesses touch on most sectors of an economy mired in a recession, from medical equipment and real estate to TV stations. And its longtime profit engine, GE Capital, has seen profits sapped as businesses and consumers limit borrowing or default.
“The environment in total is very tough,” GE’s Chief Executive Jeff Immelt told analysts on an investor conference call.
Shares of the Fairfield, Conn.-based company fell $1.45, or 10.8 percent to $12.03 Friday, after hitting a 52-week low of $11.87 earlier in the session.
After paying preferred dividends, GE’s earnings totaled $3.65 billion, or 35 cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $6.7 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier. Those results included $1.5 billion in charges from a restructuring of GE Capital and increased reserves. But they also included a significant tax boost of $1.38 billion.
