NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - General Electric Co. posted a second straight drop in earnings Friday, as the diversified manufacturer met Wall Street forecasts for the first quarter and said it is on track to hit its earlier guidance for the full year.

Fairfield, Conn.-based GE, which makes light bulbs, appliances and jet engines and also owns the NBC television network and a huge financial services business, said it earned $3.2 billion, or 32 cents a share, in the quarter, excluding special items and a required accounting change.

That was in line with average analysts' forecasts from earnings tracker First Call, and down from $3.5 billion, or 35 cents a share, earned on the same basis a year earlier. The company had posted a string of improved quarterly earnings for 10 years before posting a drop in earnings excluding special items during the fourth quarter.

The company said it still expects EPS of $1.55-to-$1.70 for the full year. First Call's consensus forecast is for EPS of $1.62, with a range of estimates from $1.55 to $1.65. GE earned $1.51 a share in 2002.

Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin also told investors that second-quarter earnings are also expected to be lower once again due to tough comparisons in its power systems business.

Overall segment profits will be down 10 to 15 percent due to a 50 percent decline in power system income, Sherin said. Excluding that segment, the company believes other segment earnings will be up 5 to 10 percent. That should allow GE should be able to hit the company's previous second quarter EPS guidance of 37 to 39 cents. First Call's second quarter EPS forecast is for 38 cents, down from 44 cents a year ago.

Still, the company said it weathered the various impacts from the war and the difficult market for its power system business better than expected, and also said it believes it is well positioned to return to improved profitability in the second half of the year.

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"We've planned for tough this year and we weren't disappointed," said CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Revenue fell to $30.3 billion from $30.5 billion a year earlier, topping the First Call forecast of $30.1 billion for the period. GE attributed the drop in revenue to a decline in its gas turbine business in its power systems unit, as well as the lack of the Winter Olympics, whose broadcast lifted revenue for its television networks by $716 million in the first quarter of 2002.

Television profits were also hurt by the cost of providing coverage of the war in Iraq, coupled with the loss of some advertising revenue during the war coverage. The company believes the war reduced NBC profits by about $65 million on a pre-tax basis in the quarter, and that the cost should drop to about $30 million in the second quarter.

The company also saw more modest declines in revenue in its aircraft engine, consumer products and equipment management units.

GE said operating profit rose in most of its divisions, but not by enough to offset declines in the power systems and plastics units, as well as in equipment management, which is part of its GE Capital unit. Profit in the plastics unit was hurt by a rise in oil prices, which increased the costs of raw materials. But even with the tougher environment for plastics, the company said its non-financial businesses saw a collective 7 percent increase in profit excluding the power unit and the decline in broadcasting due to the Olympics.

Commercial finance saw the largest increase in profits, up $106 million to $826. Aircraft engines, despite the drop in revenue, saw profits increase 13 percent to $474 million, due to job cuts there implemented since the Sept. 11 attack. Still, total segment profits were off 12 percent to $4.2 billion from $4.8 billion a year earlier.

Including special charges GE's net income in the quarter rose 20 percent to just under $3.0 billion, or 30 cents a share, from $2.5 billion or 25 cents a share a year earlier.

GE (GE: up $0.21 to $27.59, Research, Estimates) stock, one of 30 in the Dow Jones industrial average, turned higher Friday after falling in before-hours trading.