General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) shares rose 1.7% in Wednesday’s premarket deals as the company retained an upbeat outlook, despite headline fourth quarter results falling short of expectations.
GE revealed a US$10.1bn loss from continuing operations for the three months to December 31, which equates to US$1.15 per share – compared to US$3.48bn of earnings in the same period in the preceding year.
Less charges, GE earned 27 cents per share for the three months, which was short of market expectations for 29 cents per share. GE generated US$31.4bn of revenue, which was also below expectations for just over US$34bn.
Chief executive John Flannery described the earnings figure as “at the low-end of guidance”, but, said that the group’s cash performance was above expectations and highlighted that “our visibility and execution on cash is improving”.
“Aviation and Healthcare had strong performances in the quarter. Power was down significantly and we expect market challenges to continue,” Flannery said.
“Our results this quarter demonstrate some of the early progress we are seeing from our key initiatives. The team is focused on operational execution, capital allocation and deep cost reduction to position us for continued improvement in 2018.”
GE shares were up 37 cents, 2.19%, at US$17.26 in Wednesday’s premarket dealing.