经营困境难扭转，通用电气股息几乎削减至零

通用电气于上周二宣布第三季度亏损228亿美元，公司正在大幅削减股息。

亏损缘于10月初通用电气一次性减记电力业务230亿美元，由于经营状况不佳，同时还宣布辞退了时任CEO兼总裁约翰·弗兰纳里，距他上任时间不过一年出头。

继任者劳伦斯·卡尔普利用上周二发布业绩报告之机，简单介绍了他计划扭转通用颓势的第一步。

首当其冲的是减少股息，公司将在12月把每股股息从0.12美元减少至0.01美元。通用电气称这样可以保证公司每年能持有39亿美元现金。

第二大变化是重组公司的电力部门，该部门因为市场对化石燃料产品需求疲软而陷入困境。电力部门将分为两部分，一部分负责天然气产品和服务，另一部分负责其它门类的业务，例如蒸汽、核、电网、能量变换等。

“我们要提高紧迫感，强化组织内部每个人的责任感，这样才能提升业绩。”卡尔普在声明中说。“公司将致力于让产品种类更集中，加强收支平衡，这是正确的选择。我任职前100天的首要任务是对业务进行重新定位，最终目标是取得胜利。我们先从电力部门开始，再加快去杠杆进程。”

调整后，通用电气第三季度每股收益为0.14美元，比华尔街预测低了0.06美元。公司本季度收入同样低于预期，为295.7亿美元。

然而，在通用电气公布了业绩、卡尔普通报了他的计划后，公司股价在盘前交易中上涨了1.7%。

通用电气上一次削减股息是去年11月，削减了一半；之前这种做法曾出现在金融危机和大衰退时期。去年削减股息后，公司股价大跌7%。（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

GE is heavily slashing its dividends, the company said last Tuesday as it announced a $22.8 billion loss for the third quarter.

That loss can be attributed to the $23 billion writedown of GE Power that took place earlier October, when the ailing conglomerate defenestrated CEO and chairman John Flannery, little more than a year after he took the reins.

Flannery’s replacement, Lawrence Culp, used last Tuesday’s earnings release to outline his first steps for turning GE around.

First, there’s that dividend cut, from $0.12 to $0.01 per share, which will take place in December. GE said this will let it hang on to around $3.9 billion in cash per year.

The second change is the reorganization of GE Power, which has been floored by weak demand for its fossil-fuel-oriented products. The unit will be split in two: one for gas products and services, and the other for everything else, such as steam, nuclear, grids and power conversion.

“We will heighten our sense of urgency and increase accountability across the organization to deliver better results,” said Culp in a statement. “We are on the right path to create a more focused portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet. My priorities in my first 100 days are positioning our businesses to win, starting with Power, and accelerating deleveraging.”

GE’s adjusted third-quarter earnings of $0.14 per share missed Wall Street forecasts by $0.06. Revenue came in below expectations too, at $29.57 billion for the quarter.

However, GE’s shares went up 1.7% in premarket trading, following the results and Culp’s outlining of his plans.

GE last cut its dividends in November last year, halving them; previous cuts took place during the financial crisis and the Great Depression. Last year’s cut helped to knock more than 7% off GE’s share price.