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GE posts brighter 4Q
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January 20, 2000: 10:51 a.m. ET
NBC revenue gain leads conglomerate to sixth straight record quarter
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - General Electric Co. posted its sixth-straight quarter of record profits Thursday while managing to top Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings expectations by a penny.
The Fairfield, Conn.-based parent of GE Capital Services and the NBC television network said it earned $3.09 billion, or 93 cents per diluted share, during the period ended Dec. 31.
That surpassed not only the $2.67 billion, or 80 cents per diluted share, it earned during the same period last year, but also narrowly topped the consensus analyst estimate, as compiled by research firm First Call Corp., of 92 cents per share.
The results capped off a remarkable century for GE, which began in 1892 as a regional electric company and eventually evolved into a massive conglomerate producing such diverse products as aircraft engines and medical devices. GE is the sole-remaining original component of the Dow Jones industrial average.
Power business, NBC drive profits
Fourth-quarter earnings growth was particularly strong in the company's power systems unit, where profits jumped 17 percent, partly due to the acquisition of Glegg Water Technologies and a 240 percent increase in shipments.
GE Capital also posted strong gains, driven mainly by its acquisition of the J.C. Penney private label credit card business and a recent contract to administer and finance the Wal-Mart (WMT) credit card, which has generated more than 1 million customer applications in the last four months.
Overall revenue for the quarter climbed 15 percent to $32.9 billion from $28.6 billion a year earlier, due mostly to a 31 percent increase in revenue from NBC.
The company said NBC benefited from a strong advertising market, the successful debut of "West Wing" and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," and a deal to combine its Internet assets with Xoom.com.
That deal spearheaded the company's efforts to transform itself into a modern, 21st century e-business conglomerate that included nine new Internet investments during the quarter.
But the company's old-line businesses continue to motor along as well. For example, GE Aircraft Engines delivered a 14 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit on a revenue gain of only 2 percent.
The only significant trouble spot on GE's balance sheet was an 11 percent drop in appliance sales, although the company still garnered a 4 percent profit increase from that unit.
For the full year, GE earned $10.72 billion, or $3.22 per share, up from $9.30 billion, or $2.80 per share, in 1998.
GE (GE) shares were down 1-25/32 to 146-15/32 late Thursday morning. 
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General Electric Co.
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