Challenging quarter that GE met head-on with better operational execution and de-risking actions
- Total orders $13.8B, (38)%; organic orders (35)%
- Total revenues (GAAP) $17.7B, (24)%; Industrial organic revenues* $16.3B, (20)%
- Industrial profit margin (GAAP) of (5.7)%, (390) bps; adjusted Industrial profit margin* (3.2)%, (1,170) bps
- Continuing EPS (GAAP) of $(0.27), including non-cash goodwill and other charges and the impact of marking GE's investment in Baker Hughes to market; adjusted EPS* $(0.15)
- GE CFOA (GAAP) $(1.6)B; Industrial free cash flow* $(2.1)B
BOSTON — July 29, 2020 — GE (NYSE:GE) announced results today for the second quarter ending June 30, 2020.
GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said, “The GE team remains focused on protecting the safety of our people, serving our customers and communities, and preserving our strengths, and I want to thank all of my colleagues for their tireless efforts. We had a very challenging second quarter that we met head-on, executing well operationally while we took actions to further de-risk our company. Our earnings performance was impacted by the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our businesses, but Industrial free cash flow was better than our expectations and previously communicated range. We made faster progress on elements within our control, including our targeted cost and cash preservation actions."
Culp continued, "We're working through a still-difficult COVID-19 environment, and while it's too early to predict the trajectory for the recovery of commercial aviation, we continue to plan for a prolonged return to prior levels of activity. Still, 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. We expect to return to positive Industrial free cash flow in 2021. We are accelerating our transformation to make GE stronger and drive long-term, profitable growth."
GE continued to take action on its priorities:
- Supported global customers and communities combatting COVID-19, including tripling production of GE's CARESCAPE™ R860 ventilators in the quarter; partnering with Ford to scale the Airon-licensed pNeuton Model A-E ventilator; increasing manufacturing capacity of monitoring solutions, X-ray, anesthesia, and point-of-care ultrasound systems; and pledging financial support to communities through the GE Foundation and to employees through GE's Employee Relief Fund.
- Realized more than one-third of cost and cash actions in the second quarter toward target of more than $2 billion of cost actions and more than $3 billion of cash actions during 2020.
- Reduced near-term liquidity needs by $10.5 billion through a series of GE and GE Capital debt offerings and repayments that GE expects to be leverage neutral by the end of 2021.
- Reduced debt by $9.1 billion year to date—including $7.8 billion in GE Industrial net debt* and $1.3 billion in GE Capital debt—and by approximately $22 billion since the beginning of 2019.
- Launching program to fully monetize remaining stake in Baker Hughes over approximately three years, in line with GE's stated goal.
- Focused portfolio by selling GE Lighting to Savant Systems, Inc.
- Named new leaders, including John Slattery as president- and CEO-elect, Aviation; Pat Byrne as VP, Lean Transformation, GE, in addition to his role leading GE Digital; Nancy Anderson as Chief Information Officer, GE; Mike Barber as Chief Diversity Officer, GE; and chief diversity officers across GE's businesses.
- Completed thorough and competitive audit tender process, selecting Deloitte as GE's independent auditor for the 2021 fiscal year.
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Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements
This release and certain of our other public communications and SEC filings may contain statements related to future, not past, events. These forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "estimate," "forecast," "target," "preliminary," or "range." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business operations, financial results and financial position and on the world economy; our expected financial performance, including cash flows, revenues, organic growth, margins, earnings and earnings per share; macroeconomic and market conditions and volatility; planned and potential business or asset dispositions; our de-leveraging plans, including leverage ratios and targets, the timing and nature of actions to reduce indebtedness and our credit ratings and outlooks; GE's and GE Capital's funding and liquidity; our businesses’ cost structures and plans to reduce costs; restructuring, goodwill impairment or other financial charges; or tax rates.
For us, particular uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements include:
- the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses' and governments' responses to the pandemic on our operations and personnel, and on commercial activity and demand across our and our customers' businesses, and on global supply chains;
- our inability to predict the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and related impacts will continue to adversely impact our business operations, financial performance, results of operations, financial position, the prices of our securities and the achievement of our strategic objectives;
- changes in macroeconomic and market conditions and market volatility (including developments and volatility arising from the COVID-19 pandemic), including interest rates, the value of securities and other financial assets (including our equity ownership position in Baker Hughes), oil and other commodity prices and exchange rates, and the impact of such changes and volatility on our financial position;
- our de-leveraging and capital allocation plans, including with respect to actions to reduce our indebtedness, the timing and amount of GE dividends, organic investments, and other priorities;
- further downgrades of our current short- and long-term credit ratings or ratings outlooks, or changes in rating application or methodology, and the related impact on our liquidity, funding profile, costs and competitive position;
- GE’s liquidity and the amount and timing of our GE Industrial cash flows and earnings, which may be impacted by customer, supplier, competitive, contractual and other dynamics and conditions;
- GE Capital's capital and liquidity needs, including in connection with GE Capital’s run-off insurance operations and discontinued operations, the amount and timing of required capital contributions to the insurance operations and any strategic actions that we may pursue; the impact of conditions in the financial and credit markets on GE Capital's ability to sell financial assets; the availability and cost of funding; and GE Capital's exposure to particular counterparties and markets;
- our success in executing and completing asset dispositions or other transactions, including our plan to exit our equity ownership position in Baker Hughes, the timing of closing for such transactions and the expected proceeds and benefits to GE;
- global economic trends, competition and geopolitical risks, including changes in the rates of investment or economic growth in key markets we serve, or an escalation of trade tensions such as those between the U.S. and China;
- market developments or customer actions that may affect levels of demand and the financial performance of the major industries and customers we serve, such as secular, cyclical and competitive pressures in our Power business, pricing and other pressures in the renewable energy market, levels of demand for air travel and other customer dynamics such as early aircraft retirements, conditions in key geographic markets and other shifts in the competitive landscape for our products and services;
- operational execution by our businesses, including our ability to improve the operations and execution of our Power and Renewable Energy businesses, and the performance of our Aviation business;
- changes in law, regulation or policy that may affect our businesses, such as trade policy and tariffs, regulation related to climate change, and the effects of U.S. tax reform and other tax law changes;
- our decisions about investments in new products, services and platforms, and our ability to launch new products in a cost-effective manner;
- our ability to increase margins through implementation of operational changes, restructuring and other cost reduction measures;
- the impact of regulation and regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including the impact of Alstom, SEC and other investigative and legal proceedings;
- the impact of actual or potential failures of our products or third-party products with which our products are integrated, such as the fleet grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, and the timing of its return to service and return to delivery, and related reputational effects;
- the impact of potential information technology, cybersecurity or data security breaches; and
- the other factors that are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as such descriptions may be updated or amended in any future reports we file with the SEC.
These or other uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
This release includes certain forward-looking projected financial information that is based on current estimates and forecasts, and actual results could differ materially. Refer also to the webcast of our investor conference later this morning for additional discussion of our outlook and uncertainties that could cause our future results to be different than our current expectations.
General Electric Capital Corporation (GECC) has been merged into GE and our financial services business is now operated by GE Capital Global Holdings, LLC (GECGH). In our public communications and SEC filings, we refer to GECC and GECGH as “GE Capital”. We refer to the industrial businesses of the Company including GE Capital on an equity basis as “GE”. “GE (ex-GE Capital)” and /or “Industrial” refer to GE excluding GE Capital. Our financial services segment previously referred to as GE Capital is now referred to as Capital.
GE’s Investor Relations website at www.ge.com/investor and our corporate blog at www.gereports.com, as well as GE’s Facebook page and Twitter accounts, contain a significant amount of information about GE, including financial and other information for investors. GE encourages investors to visit these websites from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted.
Additional Financial Information
Additional financial information can be found on the Company’s website at: www.ge.com/investor under Events and Reports.
Conference Call and Webcast
GE will discuss its results during its investor conference call today starting at 8:00 a.m. ET. The conference call will be broadcast live via webcast, and the webcast and accompanying slide presentation containing financial information can be accessed by visiting the Events and Reports page on GE’s website at: www.ge.com/investor. An archived version of the webcast will be available on the website after the call.
About GE
GE (NYSE:GE) rises to the challenge of building a world that works. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today the company’s dedicated team, leading technology, and global reach and capabilities help the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. GE’s people are diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest level of integrity and focus to fulfill GE’s mission and deliver for its customers. www.ge.com
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GE
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