GE profit tops expectations despite flagging oil unit sales

General Electric Co’s quarterly earnings topped Wall Street’s estimate yesterday as its business of selling power-generating turbines drove a 9% increase in industrial profit despite weak sales in its oil and gas unit. The US conglomerate said its fourth-quarter net income rose 61% to $5.15bn, or 51¢ per share, from a year earlier. Excluding pension-related costs, earnings of 56¢ per share were 1 cent ahead of the analysts’ average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 4% to $42bn. GE’s organic industrial revenue, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations and deals, rose 9%.  Sales in the power and water unit, which sells a variety of turbines and is GE’s biggest industrial segment, rose 22%, while the aviation division’s sales increased 4%. Revenue at the oil and gas division slumped 6%, although it was flat on an organic basis. Orders at the unit, which sells oil and gas equipment and services, fell 4% on an organic basis. Investors have been concerned about flagging oil prices, which could lead the unit’s customers to slash spending.