GE Profit Rises, Helped By Oil And Gas Business

Earnings Preview: Will General Electric Company (GE) Top Estimates? — GE chief Jeff Immelt Reuters

(Reuters) - General Electric Co. posted a rise in quarterly net profit on Friday, helped by strength in its businesses selling oil pumps and jet engines.

The U.S. conglomerate said net earnings rose to $4.2 billion, or 41 cents per share, from $4.01 billion, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, earnings of 53 cents per share were in line with the average expectation of analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 3.1 percent to $40.38 billion, about $160 million ahead of analysts' targets.

"We saw good conditions in growth markets, strength in the U.S., and a mixed environment in Europe," Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt said in a statement.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Sophie Hares)

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