GE Posts Hefty Loss In Q2

(RTTNews) - General Electric Co. (GE) reported Wednesday a hefty net loss in the second quarter, amid ongoing impact of COVID-19 on its businesses and weak revenues. The company expects to return to positive Industrial free cash flow in 2021.

".... based on what we see today and the actions we've taken, sequential improvement in earnings and cash in the second half of the year is achievable," said GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr.

GE said that it is launching a program to fully monetize its Baker Hughes position over about three years. Executing on the program over time will allow GE to divest a substantial non-core asset, redeploy capital, enhance financial flexibility, and strengthen its balance sheet. GE expects to use proceeds from the transactions for further deleveraging.

The company reported that its second-quarter net loss attributable to common shareholders widened to $2.18 billion or $0.26 per share from $61 million or $0.01 per share in the same quarter last year.

The latest-quarter results included non-cash pre-tax goodwill impairment charges of $877 million related to Additive within GE's Aviation segment and $839 million related to GECAS within GE Capital.

Adjusted loss per share for the quarter was $0.15 compared to adjusted earnings per share of $0.16 in the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.10 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the second quarter declined 24 percent to $17.75 billion from $23.41 billion in the previous year. Analysts expected revenues of $17.12 billion for the quarter.

In Wednesday pre-market trade, GE was trading at $7.02 up $0.13 or 1.89 percent.