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Press Release

GE Announces Fourth Quarter 2018 Results

January 31, 2019
  • 4Q’18: GE CFOA (GAAP) of $6.4 billion; adjusted GE Industrial free cash flows (non-GAAP)-a) of $4.9 billion 
  • FY’18: GE CFOA (GAAP) of $2.3 billion; adjusted GE Industrial free cash flows (non-GAAP)-a) of $4.5 billion
  • 4Q’18: continuing EPS (GAAP) of $0.08; adjusted EPS (non-GAAP) of $0.17
  • FY’18: continuing EPS (GAAP) of $(2.43); adjusted EPS (non-GAAP) of $0.65
 

BOSTON - January 31, 2019 - GE (NYSE:GE) announced results today for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. GE reported revenues of $33.3 billion, GE cash flows from operating activities of $6.4 billion, adjusted GE Industrial free cash flows (non-GAAP) of $4.9 billion, continuing earnings per share (EPS) of $0.08, and adjusted EPS (non-GAAP) of $0.17. Full details, including full-year results, are below. 

Recent actions to make GE simpler and stronger include:  

De-leveraging the balance sheet: 

  • Reduced quarterly dividend, accelerated the sell-down of GE’s stake in BHGE, and increased GE’s retained stake in the planned Wabtec transaction, collectively allowing GE to generate or retain approximately $10 billion of cash. 
  • In GE Industrial, signed or completed substantially all of the $20 billion asset disposition program in 2018. 
  • In GE Capital, completed $8 billion of asset sales and other actions in the quarter, bringing the total dispositions to $15 billion in 2018; paid down external debt by $21 billion in 2018. 
  • Reached agreement in principle with the United States Department of Justice to settle the FIRREA investigation of WMC, with GE to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 billion, consistent with the prior reserve for this matter.

Strengthening the businesses: 

  • Delayered Power to improve accountability and cost structures in underlying businesses. 
  • Announced plans to consolidate GE's renewable and grid assets into Renewable Energy.
  • Launching an independent GE-owned Digital business to better focus on growth opportunities in industrial IoT.
  • Refocused Global Growth Organization (GGO) to support commercial growth in emerging markets.
  • Named new leaders, including Kevin Cox as chief human resources officer, Rachel Duan as CEO of GGO, Scott Strazik as CEO of Gas Power, Karyn Ovelmen as transformation leader of Gas Power, John Rice as chairman of Gas Power, and Steve Winoker as VP of Investor Relations. 
  • Appointed Paula Rosput Reynolds to GE’s Board and announced GE’s intention to conduct an auditor tender process.

GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said, “Our strategy is clear: de-leverage our balance sheet and strengthen our businesses, starting with Power. To do this, we are improving execution, customer focus, and how we set priorities across GE. I’m confident in our team, technology, and the global reach of GE’s brand and relationships. We have more work to do, but I’m encouraged by the changes we’re making to strengthen GE and create value for our shareholders, customers, and employees.”

Please visit our investor website for full information:

Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements:

This document contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," “estimate,” “forecast,” "target," “preliminary,” or “range.” 

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about potential business or asset dispositions, including plans to separate GE Healthcare into a standalone company, the timing, structure and form for that separation, the characteristics of the business to be separated and the expected benefits to GE; plans to exit our equity ownership position in Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) and the expected benefits to GE; capital allocation plans; GE’s and GE Capital’s capital structure, liquidity and access to funding; our de-leveraging plans, including leverage ratios and targets, the timing and nature of specific actions to reduce indebtedness, credit ratings and credit outlooks; divestiture proceeds expectations; future charges and capital contributions that may be required in connection with GE Capital’s run-off insurance operations or other GE Capital portfolio actions; revenues; organic growth; cash flows and cash conversion, including the impact of working capital, contract assets and pension funding contributions; earnings per share; future business growth and productivity gains; profit margins; the benefits of restructuring actions; our businesses’ cost structures and plans to reduce costs; restructuring, goodwill impairment or other financial charges; tax rates; or returns on capital and investment.

For us, particular uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements include: 

  • our success in executing and completing, including obtaining regulatory approvals and satisfying other closing conditions for, announced GE Industrial and GE Capital business or asset dispositions or other transactions, including our planned separation of GE Healthcare and dispositions of GE Transportation and BHGE, the structure and form, pricing, gain or loss recognition, timing, and anticipated proceeds from those or other transactions and potential trailing liabilities;
  • our capital allocation plans, as such plans may change including with respect to de-leveraging actions, the timing and amount of GE dividends, organic investments, and other priorities;
  • further downgrades of our current short- and long-term credit ratings or ratings outlooks and the related impact on our liquidity, funding profile, costs and competitive position;
  • GE’s liquidity and the amount and timing of our GE Industrial cash flows and earnings, which may be impacted by customer, competitive, contractual and other dynamics and conditions;
  • GE Capital's capital and liquidity needs, including in connection with GE Capital’s run-off insurance operations, the amount and timing of required capital contributions, strategic actions that we may pursue, WMC-related claims, liabilities and payments, the impact of conditions in the financial and credit markets on GE Capital's ability to sell financial assets, GE Capital’s leverage and credit ratings, the availability and cost of GE Capital funding and GE Capital's exposure to counterparties;
  • customer actions or market developments such as secular and cyclical pressures in our Power business, other shifts in the competitive landscape for our products and services, changes in economic conditions, including oil prices, early aircraft retirements and other factors that may affect the level of demand and financial performance of the major industries and customers we serve;
  • operational execution by our businesses; 
  • changes in law, economic and financial conditions, including the effect of enactment of U.S. tax reform or other tax law changes, trade policy and tariffs, interest and exchange rate volatility, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets;
  • our ability to launch new products in a cost-effective manner;
  • our ability to increase margins through implementation of operational changes, restructuring and other cost reduction measures;
  • the impact of regulation and regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including the impact of WMC, Alstom, SEC and other investigative and legal proceedings;
  • our success in integrating acquired businesses and operating joint ventures, and our ability to realize revenue and cost synergies from announced transactions, acquired businesses and joint ventures;
  • the impact of potential product failures and related reputational effects;
  • the impact of potential information technology, cybersecurity or data security breaches;
  • the other factors that are described in "Forward-Looking Statements" in BHGE’s most recent earnings release or SEC filings; and
  • the other factors that are described in "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as updated in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

These or other uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Our public communications and SEC filings may include certain forward-looking projected financial information that is based on current estimates and forecasts. Actual results could differ materially.

General Electric Capital Corporation (GECC) has been merged into GE and our financial services business is now operated by GE Capital Global Holdings, LLC (GECGH). In our public communications and SEC filings, we refer to GECC and GECGH as “GE Capital”. We refer to the industrial businesses of the Company including GE Capital on an equity basis as “GE”. “GE (ex-GE Capital)” and /or “Industrial” refer to GE excluding GE Capital. Our financial services segment previously referred to as GE Capital is now referred to as Capital.

GE’s Investor Relations website at www.ge.com/investor and our corporate blog at www.gereports.com, as well as GE’s Facebook page and Twitter accounts, contain a significant amount of information about GE, including financial and other information for investors. GE encourages investors to visit these websites from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted.

Supplemental Financial Information

Supplemental financial information can be found on the Company’s website at: ge.com/investor under Events and Reports.

Conference Call and Webcast

GE will discuss its results during its investor conference call today starting at 8:00 a.m. ET. The conference call will be broadcast live via webcast, and the webcast and accompanying slide presentation containing financial information can be accessed by visiting the Events and Reports page on GE’s website at: www.ge.com/investor. An archived version of the webcast will be available on the website after the call.

About GE

GE (NYSE:GE) drives the world forward by tackling its biggest challenges. By combining world-class engineering with software and analytics, GE helps the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today it leads new paradigms in additive manufacturing, materials science, and data analytics. GE people are global, diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest integrity and passion to fulfill GE’s mission and deliver for our customers. www.ge.com

GE Investor Contacts:

Steve Winoker, 617.443.3400

[email protected] 

GE Media Contact:

Jennifer Erickson, 646.682.5620

[email protected]

Jennifer Erickson
GE Corporate
[email protected]
+1 646 682 5620


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