GE Profit Up 14% on Record Revenue, Meeting Forecasts

Sprawling conglomerate General Electric Co. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 14% to $2.67 billion, or 80 cents a share, as revenue climbed to a record high.

The company--which makes lightbulbs as well as jet engines, operates the NBC television network and runs a booming finance business--said revenue rose 7% over the year-ago quarter, to $28.64 billion. The results were in line with analysts’ consensus, according to First Call Corp.

Chairman John F. Welch attributed GE’s growth to acquisitions, the company’s worldwide diversification and an efficiency and quality improvement drive known as Six Sigma.

For the full year, GE’s earnings grew 14% to $9.3 billion, or $2.80 a share, from 1997, on an 11% revenue gain to $100.5 billion. Welch said he expects the Fairfield, Conn.-based giant to deliver another record year in 1999.

GE’s growth is driven by its diverse range of businesses and sales of long-term contracts to service what it sells, analysts said. Profit from service contracts tends to be more reliable than product sales, which follow the economy.

Profit at GE’s Capital Services finance unit grew 17% in 1998. The unit, which accounted for just over 40% of GE’s profit for the year, achieved double-digit growth in all business segments worldwide, including credit cards, automobile financing and insurance.

At a Glance

Other earnings, excluding one-time gains and charges unless noted:

* AlliedSignal Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit rose 14% to $352 million, or 62 cents a share, matching forecasts. Revenue edged down 1% to $3.87 billion. Wider margins in its aerospace systems, turbine technology and performance polymer divisions offset weakness in its electronic materials, automotive aftermarket and other businesses.

* TRW Inc. said fourth-quarter profit fell a larger-than-expected 18% to $111.8 million, or 91 cents a share, as a slump in its auto-parts business offset growth in its information technology unit. Analysts were expecting $1.01 a share. Sales rose 5% to $2.93 billion.

* Texas Instruments Inc.’s earnings grew a better-than-anticipated 8.2% in the fourth quarter to $237 million, or 59 cents a share, fueled by a 29% jump in sales of its processors used in consumer electronics. Revenue declined 18% to $1.99 billion, which the company blamed on the sale of its memory chip business in October.

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Earnings Watch

A sampling of companies reporting quarterly earnings Wednesday, and expected to report today, ranked by year-over-year earnings-per-share (EPS) growth, compiled by First Call:

Reporting Wednesday

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Analysts’ Pct. above/ 1997 Ticker estimated Actual below 4th-qtr. Company symbol EPS EPS estimate EPS Household Intl. HI $0.71 $0.71 0% 0.41 Regions Financial RGBK 0.59 0.60 +2 0.44 Duke Energy DUK 0.66 0.60 -9 0.51 Fleet Financial FLT 0.68 0.71 +4 0.61 U.S. Bancorp USB 0.52 0.52 0 0.45 Bristol-Myers BMY 0.90 0.90 0 0.78 Data General DGN 0.05 0.07 +40 0.07 Winn-Dixie WIN 0.35 0.35 0 0.38 AMR AMR 1.16 1.00 -14 1.09 USAirways Group U 1.20 1.18 -2 1.34 Harris HRS 0.63 0.58 -8 0.66 Dover DOV 0.44 0.42 -5 0.49 Eaton ETN 1.14 1.27 +11 1.66 Central & S.W. CSR 0.28 0.26 -7 0.34 Weyerhaeuser WY 0.31 0.38 +23 0.54 Reynolds Metals RLM 0.84 0.76 -10 1.09 Caterpillar CAT 0.83 0.83 0 1.20 Willamette Ind. WLL 0.12 0.07 -42 0.19 Burlington Res. BR -0.04 0.00 NM 0.60

Year- over-year Company % change Household Intl. +73% Regions Financial +36 Duke Energy +18 Fleet Financial +16 U.S. Bancorp +16 Bristol-Myers +15 Data General 0 Winn-Dixie -8 AMR -8 USAirways Group -12 Harris -12 Dover -14 Eaton -23 Central & S.W. -24 Weyerhaeuser -30 Reynolds Metals -30 Caterpillar -31 Willamette Ind. -63 Burlington Res. -100

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Reporting Today

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Ticker Consensus Year-ago Predicted Company symbol EPS estimate quarter pct. chg. Lucent Technologies LU $1.00 $0.86 +16% IBM IBM 2.45 2.11 +16 Sears, Roebuck S 1.45 1.29 +12 Sara Lee SLE 0.39 0.35 +11 Exxon XON 0.57 0.88 -35 Monsanto MTC 0.05 0.09 -44

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* NM = not meaningful. A loss in any period makes percentage change not calculable.

Note: Year-over-year growth and percentage changes are based on earnings-per-share figures and may differ from percentage changes based on total profit.

For more information via the Internet, check https://www.firstcall.com.