Fuel Fix ? GE profit tops estimates as finance, energy earnings grow

25. McDonald's -- Income taxes paid: $2.1 billion. Effective tax rate of 31.3 percent. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

24. Qualcomm -- Income taxes paid: $2.1 billion. Effective tax rate of 20.8 percent. (AP)

23. PepsiCo -- Income taxes paid: $2.2 billion. Effective tax rate of 27 percent. (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)

22. Disney -- Income taxes paid: $2.3 billion. Effective tax rate of 33.8 percent. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

21. Merck -- Income taxes paid: $2.7 billion. Effective tax rate of 12.8 percent. (Mel Evans / AP)

20. Citigroup -- Income taxes paid: $2.7 billion. Effective tax rate of 24.1 percent. (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)

19. United Health Group -- Income taxes paid: $2.74 billion. Effective tax rate of 35.4 percent. (AP)

18. Occidental Petroleum Corp. -- Income taxes paid: $2.9 billion. Effective tax rate of 40.2 percent. (Reed Saxon / AP)

17. General Electric -- Income taxes paid: $2.92 billion. Effective tax rate of 28.5 percent. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

16. Oracle -- Income taxes paid: $27.3 billion. Effective tax rate of 23.6 percent. (Paul Sakuma / AP)

15. Pfizer -- Income taxes paid: $2.94 billion. Effective tax rate of 31.5 percent. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press)

14. Johnson & Johnson -- Income taxes paid: $2.97 billion. Effective tax rate of 21.8 percent. (DANIEL HULSHIZER / AP)

13. Proctor & Gamble -- Income taxes paid: $3 billion. Effective tax rate of 25.8 percent. (Al Behrman / AP)

12. Intel -- Income taxes paid: $3.3 billion. Effective tax rate of 27.2 percent. (MANDY CHENG / AFP/Getty Images)

11. Philip Morris -- Income taxes paid: $3.36 billion. Effective tax rate of 29.1 percent. (KATHY WILLENS / AP)

10. Freeport-McMoRan -- Income taxes paid: $3.4 billion. Effective tax rate of 35 percent. (Flickr)

9. Apple -- Income taxes paid: $4 billion. Effective tax rate of 24.6 percent. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

8. IBM -- Income taxes paid: $4.2 billion. Effective tax rate of 24.5 percent. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

7. Wells Fargo -- Income taxes paid: $4.9 billion. Effective tax rate of 31.5 percent. (PAUL SAKUMA / AP)

6. Microsoft -- Income taxes paid: $5.3 billion. Effective tax rate of 15.9 percent. (Chiang Ying-ying / Associated Press)

5. Wal-Mart -- Income taxes paid: $5.9 billion. Effective tax rate of 32.6 percent. (PAUL J. RICHARDS / AFP/Getty Images)

4. JP Morgan Chase -- Income taxes paid: $8.2 billion. Effective tax rate of 29.1 percent. (Chris Hondros / Getty Images)

3. ConocoPhillips -- Income taxes paid: $10.6 billion. Effective tax rate of 45.6 percent. (Lisa Poole / Associated Press)

2. Chevron -- Income taxes paid: $17.4 billion. Effective tax rate of 43.3 percent. (Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)

1. Exxon -- Income taxes paid: $27.3 billion. Effective tax rate of 42 percent. (LM OTERO / AP)

General Electric Co. (GE) earnings topped analysts? second-quarter estimates, as profit growth at the finance and energy units overcame a drop in wind-turbine orders.

Earnings from continuing operations rose 7 percent to $4.01 billion, or 38 cents a share, excluding some costs, from $3.75 billion, or 34 cents, a year earlier, Fairfield, Connecticut- based GE said today in a statement. That topped the 37-cent average of 12 analysts? estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

GE is benefiting from Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt?s efforts to boost industrial earnings while shrinking the finance arm after about $32 billion of credit losses in the financial crisis. GE Capital profit rose to $2.12 billion, a 31 percent gain, as energy earnings climbed 13 percent.

?Between finance and energy, those two provide such a big proportion of the earnings power of the company and they?re the ones that matter, with everything else mostly just details,? Brian Langenberg, principal and director of research at Langenberg & Co., said in a telephone interview before results were announced.

GE Capital paid a $3 billion dividend to its parent company. It resumed the payouts in May after the Federal Reserve concluded its assessment of the business.

The industrial division?s order backlog climbed to a record $204 billion from $201 billion in the three months through March, GE said.

?We are executing on our growth strategy in the midst of a still volatile global economy,? Immelt said in the statement. ?We achieved orders expansion in growth markets of 14 percent.?

Wind Turbines

Still, industrial orders fell 1 percent in the quarter as demand for wind turbines plummeted 37 percent ahead of the scheduled expiration of a U.S. power-production tax credit later this year. Profit declined at the health-care business and the aviation unit, which makes jet engines for airplanes.

In the transportation division, which builds diesel locomotives, earnings climbed 58 percent to $282 million at the
Revenue of $36.5 billion rose 2 percent from $35.6 billion a year ago and fell short of analysts? estimates of $36.8 billion.

Accounting for charges including $553 million, or 5 cents a share, from discontinued operations such as its WMC mortgage business sold in 2007, net income declined 18 percent to $3.11 billion, or 29 cents a share, from $3.76 billion, or 35 cents.

GE climbed 1.2 percent to $20.05 at 7:11 a.m., before the start of regular trading in New York. The shares previously advanced 11 percent this year, compared with a 9.5 percent gain for the Standard & Poor?s 500 index.

Source: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/07/20/ge-profit-tops-estimates-as-finance-energy-earnings-grow/

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