General Electric quarterly profits down 49%

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US energy giant General Electric announced a 49-percent drop in second-quarter net profit on Friday to 2.68 billion dollars.

"We are executing through the recession by aggressively controlling costs and driving working capital improvements while continuing to invest for future growth," GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said.

He described the second-quarter results, compared with the equivalent figure last year, as "solid."

He said: "At the same time, we are actively maintaining our backlog, focusing on higher-margin services and continuing to run our financial services business for safety and soundness. We continue to position GE to win in a reset economy."