GE 3Q profit rises 18 pct

[October 21, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- General Electric Co. said Friday that its third-quarter profit rose 18 percent as its lending business continues to rebound.

The industrial and financial giant reported a profit of $2.34 billion for the three-month period ended Sept. 30. That compares with $1.98 billion a year ago. Per-share earnings rose to 22 cents per share from 18 cents per share.

Excluding a large dividend payout to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, GE's profit rose 57 percent to $3.22 billion or 31 cents per share.

Revenue was flat at $35.4 billion.

Analysts, who typically exclude special items, expected earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $34.8 billion.

GE, based in Fairfield, Conn., has a massive reach within the global economy. It builds everything from jet engines to refrigerators, while its GE Capital lending arm is involved in variety of businesses including credit cards and real estate.

GE said industrial orders grew 16 percent from the year-ago quarter. But its overall business benefited the most from GE Capital, which boosted segment earnings 79 percent in the quarter to $1.47 billion.

Among GE's other businesses, aviation profit increased 7 percent to $862 million, health care grew 5 percent to $608 million and transportation increased 94 percent to $196 million. But profit declined 9 percent at its energy infrastructure business to $1.5 billion and 63 percent in the home and business solutions division to to $38 million.

In September, GE announced it would buy back preferred shares from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for $3.3 billion. Buffett made the investment in October 2008 to prop up GE during the U.S. banking meltdown. With GE Capital increasingly healthy, GE decided to buy back Berkshire's shares.

Shares rose 7 cents to $16.70 in premarket trading.

[Associated Press; By CHRIS KAHN]

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