Cost cuts spur GE’s profit

Article Excerpt

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $14 (New York symbol GE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.7 billion; Market cap: $121.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is a leading maker of industrial machinery, including jet engines, power plant equipment and locomotives. It also makes medical gear and lighting products. The company’s earnings in the first quarter of 2018 rose 15.8%, to $1.42 billion from $1.22 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 14.3%, to $0.16 from $0.14. Those gains are mostly due to savings from cutting jobs and closing some facilities. In the latest quarter, that restructuring lowered GE’s costs by $805 million. The company expects savings to reach $2 billion by the end of 2018. Revenue in the quarter improved 6.6%, to $28.7 billion from $26.9 billion. If you exclude acquisitions and exchange rates, revenue fell 3.7%. Revenue declines for the company’s power equipment and transportation units worked to offset gains for its oil and gas, aviation…