GE Q1 Loss Narrows, Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) reported Tuesday a net loss for the first quarter that narrowed from last year, driven by continued recovery at Aviation and strong demand at Healthcare. Adjusted earnings per share and quarterly revenues topped analysts' expectations. The company also maintained it outlook for the full-year 2022.

GE Chairman and CEO Lawrence Culp, Jr. said, "This quarter, the GE team improved services, orders, and cash while scaling lean in all businesses to drive margin expansion."

GE reported a net loss attributable to common shareowners for the quarter of $0.99 per share, narrower than $2.61 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Loss from continuing operations attributable to common shareowners was $809 million or $0.74 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $20 million or $0.02 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.24, compared to last year's $0.13. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.19 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Consolidated revenues for the quarter edged down to $17.04 billion from $17.07 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected revenues of $16.89 billion for the quarter. Organic revenue was up 1 percent.

Total orders for the quarter grew 11 percent to $18.9 billion and increased 13 percent organically.

Power segment revenues decreased 11 percent to $3.50 billion on a reported basis and were down 6 percent on organic basis. Orders of $4.2 billion increased 14 percent.

Renewable Energy segment revenues declined 12 percent to $2.87 billion and down 10 percent organically, mainly due to lower Onshore Wind North America equipment deliveries and continued selectivity at Grid. Orders of $2.8 billion decreased 21 percent.

Healthcare segment revenues were up 1 percent to $4.36 billion from last year. Orders of $4.81 billion increased 8 percent.

However, Aviation segment revenues increased 12 percent to $5.60 billion, as commercial services grew significantly from higher shop visit volume. Orders were up 31 percent to $7.21 billion.

The company said it is on track to launch three independent, investment-grade companies focused on the growth sectors of aviation, healthcare, and energy, which was announced in November 2021.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2022, the company continues to project adjusted earnings in a range of $2.80 to $3.50 per share on organic revenue growth in the high-single-digit range. The Street is currently looking for earnings of $3.21 per share on revenue growth of 4.7 percent to $77.70 billion for the year.

The company also said it is looking set to deliver between $5.5 billion and $6.5 billion of free cash flow in 2022.