FAIRFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2005--General Electric Company Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt today said that GE's earnings forecast for third quarter and full year 2005 remain on track:
"Hurricane Katrina has caused significant personal and public loss. We are committed to helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild their communities and their lives. To date, the GE Family has committed over $21 million in direct contributions and resources - and we have dedicated teams working with government and relief agencies to assist those in need."
Immelt further said, "We have estimated the losses at GE Insurance Solutions from the storm and its aftermath, and despite this impact, we are confident we will deliver on our commitment to shareholders and are reaffirming our earnings guidance for the third quarter and the year. We continue to see good fundamentals across the rest of our businesses and our earnings guidance remains consistent with prior expectations of $.43-.44, up 13-16% for the third quarter and $1.80-1.83, up 12-14% for the full year 2005. Full year 2005 cash flow from operating activities (CFOA) is expected to come in at the high end of our previous guidance of $17 - $18 billion, up +11-18%."
In addition, GE announced today that it plans to sell 60 million shares of Class A common stock of Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) in an underwritten public offering. GE also plans to sell 21 million shares to Citigroup Global Markets Inc., an affiliate of which intends to publicly offer securities exchangeable for Genworth Class A shares. GE intends to grant over-allotment options to permit the underwriters of the common stock offering to purchase an additional 9 million shares and to permit Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to purchase an additional 3.15 million shares.
Upon completion of these transactions, GE would own approximately 32 percent of Genworth's common stock, if the underwriters' over-allotment options in both offerings are fully exercised.
The global coordinator and bookrunner for the common stock offering is Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Securities, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch are joint lead managers and bookrunners. Interested parties may obtain a written prospectus relating to the common stock offering from Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is the sole bookrunner of the offering of the exchangeable securities. Interested parties may obtain a written prospectus relating to the exchangeable securities offering from Citigroup, Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, 8th floor, Brooklyn, New York 11220.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, particular uncertainties arise from the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest rates and commodity prices, from future integration of acquired businesses, from future financial performance of major industries which we serve, including, without limitation, the air and rail transportation, energy generation and healthcare industries, from unanticipated loss development in our insurance businesses, and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These 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.
Contacts
General Electric, Fairfield
Russell Wilkerson, 203-373-3193
[email protected]