GE Profit Falls 46% on Sale of Insurance Unit

General Electric Co. said Friday that fourth-quarter profit fell 46% as the industrial products, financial services and media giant absorbed nearly $3 billion in losses selling most of its insurance business.

Although the earnings met expectations, revenue for the quarter was below what analysts expected.

GE shares fell $1.31 to $33.37.

GE said the sale of the volatile insurance business last year to Swiss Reinsurance Co. and growth in developing markets would help boost the bottom line. The Fairfield, Conn.-based conglomerate predicted strong profit this year.

The company said net income was $3.06 billion, or 29 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $5.6 billion, or 53 cents, a year earlier.

The results reflected a loss of $2.7 billion from its discontinued insurance operations. Excluding that, GE’s earnings per share matched the 55 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue rose 3% to $40.7 billion in the latest quarter from $39.7 billion a year ago.

During the quarter, NBC Universal was the only GE business segment that did not achieve profit growth of more than 10%. NBC had profit of $801 million, down 7% from a year earlier. The premiere of the film “King Kong” generated more than $500 million in global box-office receipts but the network coped with the loss of popular TV shows.

GE said it expected earnings per share of $1.94 to $2.02 this year, up 13% to 17% and a boost of 2 cents on the bottom end from its previous forecast. The consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial is for earnings of $1.98 a share.

For the year, GE reported net income of $16.4 billion, or $1.54 a share, compared with $16.8 billion, or $1.61, in 2004.